DE102022122688A1 - System and method for transporting and manipulating articles - Google Patents

Abstract

A system (1) for transporting and manipulating articles (2) is disclosed. The system (1) comprises several shuttles (7) which can receive articles (2) from a loading station (20) and transport them to an unloading station (40). The several shuttles (7) can each be moved by means of an electromagnetic direct drive and can each move in two different horizontal spatial directions and/or rotate about a vertical axis, so that articles (2) received from the loading station (20) reach the unloading station (40). at a predetermined position and/or in a predetermined rotational orientation. It is envisaged that the unloading station (40) has a plurality of revolving push rods (45), with at least one respective shuttle (7) via each push rod (45). ) received items can be pushed under the rear support of the respective shuttle (7).

Description

The present invention relates to a system and method for transporting and manipulating articles.

In packaging technology in the beverage industry, packaging processes are often carried out in order to combine beverage containers that already have primary packaging into larger packaging units using additional packaging materials. Such primary packaging is usually formed by the actual beverage bottle or the container in which the beverage or liquid is contained. The additional packaging unit can in turn form secondary packaging and combine the respective beverage containers into a container. For example, strapping, shrink film, clips or other packaging materials are known as secondary packaging.

Furthermore, it is often the case that several such packaging units that already have secondary packaging are combined into a larger packaging unit using tertiary packaging. For example, it is common for several containers to be placed on a tray or placed in a cardboard box, which is closed using appropriate packaging robots.

In order to combine beverage containers or items using secondary packaging or tertiary packaging, it is necessary that the items or containers are previously brought into a relative arrangement that is suitable for applying the respective packaging. In devices known from the prior art, the beverage containers or articles are grouped using several manipulators, for which it is not uncommon for several individual modules to be set up one behind the other in order to transfer the beverage containers or containers into the appropriate arrangement.

In order to be able to move articles in a defined manner, transport systems have existed for some time in which objects are placed on carriers that are moved electromagnetically along a predetermined route. Such a device is from the EP 3 656 707 A1 already known. The EP publication discloses several carriers, each of which can hold several objects and move them along a predetermined transport route. Once the carriers have reached their respective destination, a platform of the respective carrier is tilted, whereupon the respective articles slide from the respective carrier and reach an outfeed conveyor.

With such systems, it is possible that the articles tip over unintentionally when being transferred from the platform to the conveyor belt, which leads to a disruption in the transport system and requires an interruption or a standstill of the transport system. In addition, it is necessary for a respective carrier to be temporarily stopped in order to transfer the respective objects onto the conveyor belt, which limits the throughput or performance of the transport system. A tilting mechanism according to the EP 3 656 707 A1 is also complex because it requires a separate adjusting mechanism for each carrier.

An object of the invention can therefore be seen as providing a development which at least partially avoids the disadvantages mentioned.

The above task is solved with the objects which have the features in the independent claims. Further advantageous embodiments are described in the subclaims.

The invention relates to a system for transporting and manipulating articles. The system includes several shuttles that can receive items from a loading station and transport them to an unloading station. The several shuttles can each be moved by means of an electromagnetic direct drive and can each move in two different horizontal spatial directions and/or rotate about a vertical axis, so that articles received from the loading station reach the unloading station at a predetermined position and/or in a predetermined rotational orientation .

A control and/or regulating device can also be provided, which causes a defined movement of the multiple shuttles in order to receive the articles from the loading station via the multiple shuttles and transport them to an unloading station.

The multiple shuttles can each be movable by means of an electromagnetic direct drive in such a way that the multiple shuttles float along a transport path when the articles are transported to the unloading station or that an underside of the shuttles has no surface contact with a transport path when the articles are transported.

The articles can, for example, be formed by individual beverage containers or by containers that include several beverage containers. The beverage containers can be beverage bottles or beverage cans. However, the invention is not intended for such execution Forms limited, as the transport system can also be suitable for transporting and manipulating other items.

An inlet can be provided which feeds the items to the loading station in several parallel rows. A transport direction of the inlet can correspond to one of the two previously mentioned two different horizontal spatial directions. It can therefore be that a respective shuttle is moved obliquely or alternatively perpendicular to the transport direction when the respective shuttle travels along the two different horizontal spatial directions.

The multiple shuttles can be designed in such a way that a respective shuttle can travel along two different horizontal spatial directions at the same time. In such embodiments, items can be moved very quickly from the loading station to the unloading station.

For example, in various embodiments, the multiple shuttles can be designed in such a way or can be connected to a control and/or regulating device in such a way that the multiple shuttles can each travel in exactly one horizontal spatial direction and can rotate about a vertical axis, so that from the Items received at the loading station reach the unloading station at a predetermined position and in a predetermined rotational orientation. In particular, the plurality of shuttles can be designed in such a way or can be connected to a control and/or regulating device in such a way that a respective shuttle can travel in exactly one horizontal spatial direction and can rotate about a vertical axis while driving.

In various embodiments, the multiple shuttles can also be designed in such a way or can be connected to a control and/or regulating device in such a way that the multiple shuttles can each travel in two different horizontal spatial directions without being rotatable about a vertical axis. Such embodiments have a simple design and are particularly suitable if a rotational orientation of the articles in the area of the loading station already matches a target rotational orientation for the articles in the area of the unloading station.

In further embodiments, it may be that the multiple shuttles are designed in such a way or interact with a control and/or regulating device in such a way that the multiple shuttles can each travel in two different horizontal spatial directions and can additionally rotate about a vertical axis.

If a vertically extending axis is described here, this vertically extending axis can extend through the respective shuttle and preferably run centrally or in the area of a respective center of gravity through the respective shuttle. This vertical axis can also extend essentially along a longitudinal axis of the respective article or the respective beverage container, which is received by the respective shuttle.

It may be that the loading station is designed to provide several items together that are predetermined to be received by different shuttles. The unloading station can be configured and designed in such a way that several articles that are picked up by different shuttles can be pushed together by the different shuttles via a respective rotating push rod. Such embodiments have a high throughput and are suitable for quickly and easily pushing items that have already been manipulated or moved via the respective shuttles off the shuttles.

The plurality of revolving driven push rods can be arranged on a chain or on a belt, via which chain or belt the push rods are driven revolving. In particular, the plurality of revolving driven push rods can be arranged on two parallel-oriented and revolving chains or belts.

Furthermore, it may be that the several shuttles each have a wing that is designed to receive exactly one respective article. An overhead broadside surface of the wing can at least approximately correspond to the footprint of the article to be received via the respective shuttle. Such shuttles have a very compact structure. A system that has such multiple shuttles also has a very high level of flexibility when manipulating articles.

Embodiments in which the unloading station includes a grouping area and a packaging area have also proven successful. The system can also have a control and/or regulating device, wherein the multiple shuttles can be moved via the control and/or regulating device in such a way that the multiple shuttles can be moved by moving along the two different horizontal spatial directions and/or by rotating about the vertical direction Axis in the grouping area can form a group of several items. In the group they each own Each item has a defined arrangement and a defined orientation to each other.

Furthermore, it can be the case that a group with its articles can be pushed from the grouping area into the packaging area via a respective push rod with rear contact from the respective shuttles, which includes a manipulator designed to apply at least one package to a respective group of articles.

It is conceivable that the several rotating push rods and the several shuttles can be moved in a coordinated manner via the control and/or regulating device, so that a respective push rod comes into contact with a respective group of articles at the back at least approximately at the same time when a respective group is completely formed from several articles via the several shuttles in the grouping area.

In the system, at least one adhesive application device can be provided for applying adhesive applications to the lateral surfaces of articles. The at least one adhesive application device can be positioned in the area of a transfer section arranged between the loading station and the unloading station and/or can be designed as a component of at least one shuttle.

If the at least one adhesive application device is positioned in the area of a transfer section arranged between the loading station and the unloading station, the plurality of shuttles can be connected to a control and / or in such a way that individual or all of the several shuttles can be activated at the instigation of the control and / or Control device for applying an adhesive application to a lateral surface of a respective received article can be moved in the direction of the adhesive application device.

If the at least one adhesive application device is alternatively or additionally designed as a component of at least one shuttle, the respective shuttle can be moved back and forth together with the adhesive application device designed as a component of the respective shuttle between the loading station and the unloading station or between the loading station and the unloading station be designed to be movable back and forth.

The invention also relates to a method for transporting and manipulating articles. The system described above can be designed to carry out the embodiments of the method described below or prepared and configured for this purpose. In the method, too, the articles can be formed by beverage containers and in particular by beverage bottles or beverage cans. Features that have already been mentioned previously for various embodiments of the system can also be provided in the embodiments of the method according to the invention described below without being mentioned again. Likewise, the features described below for the embodiments of the method according to the invention can be provided in the system according to the invention already described previously.

In the method, several shuttles are moved via an electromagnetic direct drive and, with the items received, travel at least partially in two different spatial directions and/or rotate at least partially about a vertical axis, so that the items received reach an unloading station at a predetermined position and/or in achieve a specified rotational orientation.

It is envisaged that several push rods of the unloading station are driven in a rotating manner, as a result of which a respective push rod, each with at least one article received up to that point via a respective shuttle, comes into contact at the back and the respective at least one article received up to that point via the respective shuttle comes into contact with the respective shuttle pushes.

It can also be the case that several items are made available at the same time via a loading station and are received by different shuttles, which different shuttles transport the several items then received to the final loading station at a different time. A respective push rod can then push the several items that have so far been received via the different shuttles together from the different shuttles.

Furthermore, it may be that exactly one item is received via a respective shuttle, which exactly one item received is in particular exactly one beverage container or exactly one container that has several beverage containers held together.

It has also proven useful if the received items are moved over the several shuttles in such a way that several received items are in one grouping area of the ent charging station form a group of items, in which group the items have a defined arrangement and a defined orientation to one another.

It can be the case that a group with its articles is pushed via a respective push rod with rear contact from the respective shuttle from the grouping area into a packaging area of the unloading station, in which a respective group of articles is provided with at least one packaging with the aid of at least one manipulator becomes. It has proven particularly useful if the respective push rod comes into contact at the rear with the respective group of articles at least approximately at the same time when the several shuttles have finished forming a respective group of articles.

It may be that lateral lateral surfaces of articles already received via the several shuttles are provided with an adhesive application, in particular via at least one adhesive application device, so that articles already received via the several shuttles reach the unloading station with an adhesive application already applied to a respective lateral lateral surface. An adhesive application device can be designed as part of a shuttle or as an adhesive station, which is approached by at least one shuttle of the several shuttles before the respective at least one shuttle or the respective several shuttles reach the unloading station.

In such embodiments, an adhesive application can be applied to articles quickly and easily. In addition, such embodiments are particularly suitable if a group of articles is to be formed and the articles of a respective group are pushed by the shuttles via a push rod. By pushing, the articles of a respective group can be pressed against each other, with the application of adhesive being distributed over the lateral surfaces of adjacent articles and a particularly stable connection being created.

It should be expressly mentioned at this point that all aspects and embodiment variants that were explained in connection with the system according to the invention equally relate to or can be partial aspects of the method according to the invention. Therefore, if certain aspects and/or connections and/or effects are mentioned at one point in the description or in the claim definitions for the system according to the invention, this applies equally to the method according to the invention. The same applies in the opposite way, so that all aspects and embodiment variants that were explained in connection with the method according to the invention equally relate to or can be partial aspects of the system according to the invention. Therefore, if certain aspects and/or connections and/or effects are mentioned at one point in the description or in the claim definitions for the method according to the invention, this applies equally to the system according to the invention.

• 1 zeigt eine schematische Ansicht einer ersten Ausführungsform eines erfindungsgemäßen Transportsystems und verdeutlicht einzelne Schritte, wie sie bei diversen Ausführungsformen des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens vorgesehen sein können.
• 2 zeigt eine schematische Ansicht einer weiteren Ausführungsform eines erfindungsgemäßen Transportsystems und verdeutliche einzelne weitere Schritte, wie sie bei diversen Ausführungsformen des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens vorgesehen sein können.
• 3 zeigt eine schematische Seitenansicht einer Ausführungsform eines erfindungsgemäßen Transportsystems und verdeutlicht einzelne Schritte, wie sie bei diversen Ausführungsformen des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens vorgesehen sein können.
• 4 zeigt im Flussdiagramm einzelne Schritte einer Ausführungsform des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens.

In the following, exemplary embodiments will explain the invention and its advantages in more detail using the attached figures. The proportions of the individual elements in the figures do not always correspond to the real proportions, as some shapes are simplified and other shapes are shown enlarged in relation to other elements for better illustration.

• 1 shows a schematic view of a first embodiment of a transport system according to the invention and illustrates individual steps as they can be provided in various embodiments of the method according to the invention.
• 2 shows a schematic view of a further embodiment of a transport system according to the invention and illustrates individual further steps as can be provided in various embodiments of the method according to the invention.
• 3 shows a schematic side view of an embodiment of a transport system according to the invention and illustrates individual steps as can be provided in various embodiments of the method according to the invention.
• 4 shows individual steps of an embodiment of the method according to the invention in the flowchart.

Identical reference numbers are used for elements of the invention that are the same or have the same effect. Furthermore, for the sake of clarity, only reference numbers that are necessary for the description of the respective figure are shown in the individual figures. The illustrated embodiments merely represent examples of how the invention can be designed and do not represent a final limitation.

In the system or transport system 1 according to the embodiment 1 Article 2 can be seen, which are designed here as beverage containers 4. Several of these articles 2 or several of the beverage containers 4 are already combined into a container 5, including the several articles 2 or the several beverage containers 4, for example can be provided with a strapping or, for example, a clip is applied to an upper side of the articles 2 or to an upper side of the beverage containers 4, which holds the articles 2 or the beverage containers 4 together. 1 shows an inlet 10.

In the area of the inlet 10, several containers 5 are moved in three parallel rows along the transport direction TR. Successive containers 5 of a respective row are spaced apart from one another or form a gap between them. In practice, the transport or movement of the containers 5 in the area of the inlet 10 can take place, for example, via a conveyor belt or a mat chain on which the containers 5 rest.

In the present case, a respective container 5 comprises exactly four articles 2 or exactly four beverage containers 4. In further embodiments, however, individual beverage containers 4 can also be moved in several rows one behind the other via an inlet 10 without these being combined to form a respective container 5. Such an embodiment is shown below as described below 2 .

In the transport direction TR, the inlet 10 is followed by a loading station 20. The inlet 10 thus transfers the containers 5 to the loading station 20. Reference number 7 also refers to a respective shuttle that can receive a container 5 from the loading station 20. Each of these shuttles 7 is controlled via the control and/or regulating device S in such a way that each shuttle 7 receives exactly one container 5 from the loading station 20. For this purpose, each shuttle 7 includes a wing 8, on which exactly one container 5 can be accommodated. The wing 8 of the respective shuttle 7 is designed in such a way that it only extends slightly beyond a lateral edge region of the respective container 5. As a result, the shuttles 7 are very compact and can manipulate containers 5 with high flexibility.

In order to be able to move the shuttles 7 back and forth between the loading station 20 and the unloading station 40 as flexibly and easily as possible, the shuttles 7 are moved in the present case via an electromagnetic direct drive. The shuttles 7 will be moved floating along the transport path 30 and are never in surface contact with a transport surface.

In the present case, three containers 5 are provided via the loading station 20, which are picked up from the loading station 20 at least approximately at the same time via three shuttles 7 and moved in the direction of the unloading station 40. After the three containers 5 have left the loading station 20, the loading station 20 in turn moves three more containers 5, which are picked up from the loading station 20 by three further shuttles 7 at a subsequent time.

Thus, as part of a respective work cycle, three containers 5 are picked up from the loading station 20 via three shuttles 7 and then moved towards the unloading station 40. The loading station 20 can, for example, have a rotating conveyor belt or a rotating mat chain for moving the containers 5. This can be operated either without interruption or without standstill or, if necessary, intermittently in order to move up three containers 5 each time the shuttles 7 have taken three containers 5 from the loading station 20.

The containers 5 are moved via the shuttles 7 from the loading station 20 along the transfer section 30 to a grouping area 42 of the unloading station 40. The movement of the containers 5 via the shuttles 7 along the transport section 30 takes place in such a way that several containers 5 in the grouping area 42 form a group 6, which is subsequently provided with a common packaging or with a common tertiary packaging.

The arrangement and orientation of the containers 5 of a respective group 6 is thus designed in such a way that they correspond to the respective target arrangement and target orientation for a packaging with which the group 6 is subsequently provided. A corresponding manipulation in order to form such a group 6 in the grouping area 42 takes place during the movement of the containers 5 by means of the shuttles 7 along the transport section 30.

Information about the respective group 6, which is to be formed from several articles 2 or from several beverage containers 4, is stored on the control and/or regulating device S. Taking this information into account, the control and/or regulating device S moves a respective shuttle 7 either exclusively along the transport direction TR or also offsets the respective shuttle 7 along a further horizontal direction, which runs perpendicular to the transport direction TR. The movement of a respective article 2 from the loading station 20 in the direction of the unloading station 40 can therefore take place either linearly or obliquely to the transport direction TR or in two different horizontal spatial directions.

The control and/or regulating device S is also able to provide a respective shuttle 7 as required wise to rotate about a vertical axis if a rotational orientation of the respective container 5 deviates from a rotational orientation which the respective container 5 should assume in the respective group 6. This vertical axis extends through the respective shuttle 7 and is moved with the respective shuttle 7 when the respective shuttle 7 travels along the transport section 30.

The respective shuttle 7 can thus carry out its own rotation in order to transfer a respective container 5 received into a rotational orientation which the respective container 5 in group 6 should assume. The respective shuttle 7 can be rotated when it is moved towards the unloading station 40. It is therefore not necessary for a respective shuttle 7 to stand still in order to transfer an article 2 into a desired rotational orientation.

As a rule, it is not necessary for all of the containers 5 intended for a respective group 6 to be rotated when they are brought from the loading station 20 to the grouping area 42. Individual shuttles 7 can thus be rotated, while further shuttles 7 maintain their rotational orientation during movement along the transport section 30. The specification of a respective rotary movement is in turn carried out at the instigation of the control and/or regulating device S, which knows information about the respective group 6.

The unloading station 40 includes a grouping area 42, within which the shuttles 7 form a respective group 6 of several articles 2. The grouping area 42 is followed by a packaging area 44 in the transport direction TR. After a respective group 6 has been formed in the grouping area 42 via the shuttles 7, the articles 2 of the respective group 6 continue to stand on the shuttles 7. For further packaging of group 6, it is necessary that the articles 2 of the respective group 6 leave their respective shuttle 7.

For this purpose, the transport system 1 includes several rotating push rods 45, which are in 1 are not shown for reasons of clarity, but in 3 be shown schematically. The rotatingly driven push rods 45 come into contact at the rear with a respective group 6 of articles 2 and push the respective articles 2 of a respective group 6 from the shuttles 7, on which the articles 2 of a respective group 6 stand up until then.

The group 6 reaches the packaging area 44 and is further accompanied there by a respective push rod 45 with rear contact. In the packaging area 44, a manipulator 46 (cf. 3 ) a tertiary packaging is provided and the respective group 6 is provided with the tertiary packaging, which holds the containers 5 of a respective group 6 together. After such packaging, the containers 5, which are then held together via the tertiary packaging, can be moved in the direction of palletization and placed on a pallet via a palletizing station.

The 1 also shows that the shuttles 7 are moved back towards the loading station 20 when a respective article 2 has left a respective shuttle 7. Several shuttles 7 are moved back one behind the other in a row towards the loading station 20. The movement also takes place outside the transfer section 30, so that the shuttles 7, which are moved back towards the loading station 20, do not collide with the shuttles 7, which transport articles 2 to the unloading station 40.

The 2 shows a schematic view of a further embodiment of a transport system 1 according to the invention and illustrates individual further steps as can be provided in various embodiments of the method 100 according to the invention. As well as the transport system 1 includes the transport system 1 after 2 an inlet 10, via which articles 2, which are formed by beverage containers 4, are moved in the transport direction TR. The articles 2, which are located in the area of the inlet 10, are only spaced apart from one another during their movement in the area of the inlet 10.

The spacing takes place in such a way that several articles 2 in the area of the inlet 10 form a pre-grouping 9, in which the number and position of the respective articles 2 are identical to the number and position of articles 2 of a respective group 6, which are from the pre-grouping 9 should be formed with the transport system 1. The formation of a pre-grouping 6 by spacing articles 2 from subsequent articles 2 can be done, for example, via retaining elements, which briefly delay articles 2 that follow the pre-grouping 9 in the transport direction TR. Intermittently operated conveyor belts can also be provided in order to form a pre-grouping 9 in the area of the inlet 10.

The pre-grouping 9 is continued from the inlet 10 to the loading station 20. From there, the articles 2 of the pre-grouping 9 are picked up by shuttles 7 and moved towards the unloading station 40. Embodiments in which shuttles 7 at least approximately all articles 2 of the respective preliminary group have proven successful ping 9 and then move the received articles 2 of the respective pre-grouping 9 in the direction of the unloading station 40 at least approximately at the same time or with a time delay. Each article 2 of the respective pre-grouping 9 is assigned its own shuttle 7, which picks up the respective article 2 and moves it along the delivery section 30 to the unloading station 40.

From the representation of the 2 It also becomes clear that the shuttles 7 can move articles 2 or beverage containers 4 along the transport direction TR and can rotate article 2 or beverage containers 4 about a vertical axis. The vertical axis can correspond at least approximately to a longitudinal axis of the respective beverage container 4, which was received by the respective shuttle 7.

In the embodiment according to 2 there is no displacement of a shuttle 7 obliquely or perpendicular to the transport direction TR or no movement of a shuttle 7 along a horizontal direction, which is oriented perpendicular or oblique to the transport direction TR. Since the respective position of a respective article 2 in the pre-grouping 9 corresponds to the respective position of a respective article 2 in group 6, a movement perpendicular or oblique to the transport direction TR is not necessary in order to move the respective article 2 into its respective position for group 6 to be transferred to the intended position. However, the rotational orientation of the respective article 2 is also the case in the embodiment 2 adjusted if necessary and is done by 90° or by a multiple of 90°.

In embodiments according to 2 as well as in embodiments according to 1 It may also be that the transport system 1 comprises a sensor system 12 which is arranged in the area of the transport section 30 and via which sensor system 12 the control and/or regulating device S can detect a rotational orientation of articles 2 which are on a respective shuttle 7 condition. The shuttles 7 are thus moved through a detection range of the sensor system 12 when they transport received articles 2 from the loading station 20 towards the unloading station 40.

If the rotational orientation detected with the aid of the sensor system 12 via the control and/or regulating device S does not correspond to an expected target rotational orientation, the control and/or regulating device S can initiate a correction of the rotational orientation via the respective shuttle 7, so that the respective article 2 reaches the grouping area 42 in the target rotational orientation.

Just like in the embodiment according to 1 must also be followed in the embodiment 2 the articles 2 of a respective group 6 leave their respective shuttle 7. For this purpose, the unloading station 40 includes several rotating push rods 45, which are shown schematically in 3 can be recognized. A respective push rod 45 pushes a respective group 6 of articles 2 from the respective shuttles 7 onto a conveyor belt, whereupon the respective group 6 of articles 2 is provided with a packaging material or secondary packaging. For example, it may be that the articles 2 of a respective group 6 are combined using a strap or a clip.

It may also be that group 6 of articles 2 is received by a manipulator and placed in the respective outer packaging or cardboard box. The group 6 of articles 2, which is then provided with secondary packaging, can subsequently be fed to a further packaging process or palletizing. The shuttles 7 are in turn moved back towards the loading station 20 when the push rod 45 has pushed the articles 2 from the shuttles 7.

The 3 shows a schematic side view of an embodiment of a transport system 1 according to the invention and illustrates individual steps as used in various embodiments of the method 100 according to the invention (cf. 4 ) can be provided. In the schematic side view 3 an inlet 10, a loading station 20, a transfer section 30 and an unloading station 40 are again provided, as are also part of the embodiment of a transport system 1 and 2 can each be provided.

The 3 already shows this 1 and 2 revolving driven push rods 45 described in each case, which come into contact with a respective group 6 of articles 2 at the back and push the articles 2 of a respective group 6 from the shuttles 7, on which they stand up until then. The push rods 45 are arranged on two endless traction means that are oriented parallel to one another and are offset from one another in the direction of the image plane. In practice, such an endless traction means can be designed as a chain or as a belt.

In the schematic side view of the 3 A manipulator 46 can also be seen, which moves flat packaging blanks in the direction of a transport plane of the articles 2, so that a respective group 6 of articles 2 moves onto a respective flat packaging blank during their movement in the transport direction TR. The flat The packaging blanks can be designed as a tray and have tabs that are folded upwards.

Flat packaging blanks can also be designed without side tabs and only provide a flat contact area for article 2 of a respective group 6. In practice, such flat packaging blanks are referred to as PAD. During the further movement in the transport direction TR, the respective group 6 of articles 2 is still in contact with a push bar 45 at the back. However, it is also conceivable that the respective push bar 45 leaves the respective group 6 of articles 2 ready before driving onto the respective flat packaging blank or when driving onto the respective flat packaging blank.

Instead of or in addition to the manipulator 46, which introduces flat packaging blanks into a transport path of a respective group 6 of articles 2, further manipulators can be provided, which provide a respective group 6 of articles 2 with a respective packaging means. For example, it may be that a respective group 6 of articles 2 is inserted into a cardboard box via an industrial robot and/or that thermoplastic packaging material is applied to a respective group 6 of articles 2 and subsequently to the respective group 6 of articles 2 via a shrink tunnel is shrunk.

The 4 shows in the flowchart individual steps of an embodiment of the method 100 according to the invention. In step 110, articles 2, which are designed as beverage containers 4, are made available via a loading station 20. Step 110 is followed by step 120, in which a respective shuttle 7 picks up a respective article 2 from the loading station 20 and moves it along a transfer section 30 to an unloading station 40.

The shuttles 7 are moved via an electromagnetic direct drive and can rotate articles 2 about their vertical axis and move obliquely or perpendicularly to a previous direction of movement in order to thereby bring the articles 2 into an orientation and position that corresponds to their predetermined orientation and position in a group 6 from several articles 2 corresponds. The shuttles 7 move in a floating manner, so that the shuttles 7 never come into contact with a floor surface or transport surface. In step 120, such a complete group 6 is formed from several articles 2 via the shuttles 7, the respective orientation and position of which corresponds to a respective target orientation and target position.

Step 120 is followed by step 130, in which in the area of the unloading station 40 a respective group 6 of articles 2 is taken from the respective shuttles 7, on which the articles 2 of the respective group 6 stand up until then. For this purpose, several push rods 45 are driven in a rotating manner and push the articles 2 of a respective group from the shuttles 7 while resting against the group 6 at the rear. The shuttles 7 are then moved back in the direction of the loading station 20 to receive further articles 2 or beverage containers 4. Here too, the shuttles 7 can be moved in a floating manner and at no time have surface contact with a transport surface.

The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications or changes may be made to the invention without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Reference symbol list

1

system

2

Article

4

Beverage containers

5

container

6

group

7

Shuttle

8th

wing

9

Pre-grouping

10

Intake

12

Sensors

20

loading station

30

shipment section

40

Unloading station

42

Grouping area

44

Packaging area

45

push rod

46

manipulator

100

Proceedings

110

first step of the process

120

second procedural step

130

third step of the process

S

Control and/or regulating device

TR

Transport direction

QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of documents listed by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited patent literature

• EP 3656707 A1 [0005, 0006]

Claims (12)

System (1) for transporting and manipulating articles (2), comprising a plurality of shuttles (7) which can receive articles (2) from a loading station (20) and transport them to an unloading station (40), the plurality of shuttles (7) are each movable by means of an electromagnetic direct drive and can move in two different horizontal spatial directions and / or rotate about a vertical axis, so that articles (2) received from the loading station (20) reach the unloading station (40) at a predetermined position and /or in a predetermined rotational orientation, characterized in that the unloading station (40) has a plurality of rotating push rods (45), with at least one article (2) received via a respective shuttle (7) via a respective push rod (45). can be pushed under the rear support of the respective shuttle (7). System (1) after Claim 1 , in which the loading station (20) is designed to jointly provide several articles (2) that are predetermined to be received by different shuttles (7), and in which system (1) the unloading station (40) is configured and designed in such a way, that several articles (2), which are picked up by different shuttles (7), can be pushed together by the different shuttles (7) via a respective rotating push rod (45). System after Claim 1 or Claim 2 , in which the several shuttles (7) each have a wing (8) which is designed to receive exactly one respective article (2). System according to one of the Claims 1 until 3 , in which the unloading station (40) comprises a grouping area (42) and a packaging area (44) and in which system (1) a control and / or regulating device (S) is provided, the plurality of shuttles (7) being controlled via the control - and/or control device (S) can be moved in such a way that the multiple shuttles (7) form a group (6) of several by moving along the two different horizontal spatial directions and/or by rotating about the vertical axis in the grouping area (42). Articles (2) form, in which group (6) the respective articles (2) have a defined arrangement and a defined orientation to one another and a group (6) with its articles (2) via a respective push rod (45) with rear contact can be pushed by the respective shuttles (7) from the grouping area (42) into the packaging area (44), which comprises a manipulator (46) designed to apply at least one package to a respective group (6) of articles. System after Claim 4 , in which the plurality of revolving push rods (45) and the plurality of shuttles (7) can be moved in a coordinated manner via the control and/or regulating device (S), so that a respective push rod (45) is connected to a respective group (6). Articles (2) come into contact on the back at least approximately at the same time when a respective group (6) is completely formed from several articles (2) via the several shuttles (7) in the grouping area (42). System according to one of the Claims 1 until 5 , with at least one adhesive application device for applying adhesive applications to lateral lateral surfaces of articles (2), which at least one adhesive application device is positioned in the area of a transfer section (30) arranged between the loading station (20) and the unloading station (40) and / or which adhesive application device as Part of at least one shuttle (7) is formed. Method (100) for transporting and manipulating articles (2), in which method (100) several shuttles (7) are moved via an electromagnetic direct drive and, with the articles (2) received, travel at least partially in two different spatial directions and/or at least rotate proportionately about a vertical axis so that the received articles (2) reach an unloading station (40) at a predetermined position and/or in a predetermined rotational orientation, characterized in that a plurality of push rods (45) of the unloading station (40) are driven in a rotating manner are, as a result of which a respective push rod (45) with at least one article (2) received up to that point via a respective shuttle (7) comes into contact at the back and the respective at least one article (2) received up to that point via the respective shuttle (7). ) from the respective shuttle (7). Procedure (100) according to Claim 7 , in which several articles (2) are made available at the same time via a loading station (20) and are received by different shuttles (7), which different shuttles (7) transport the several articles (2) then received to the unloading station (40) at a time superimposed, a respective push rod (45) then carries the several items (2) that have been received up to that point via the different shuttles (7). pushed together by the different shuttles (7). Procedure (100) according to Claim 7 or Claim 8 , in which exactly one item (2) is received via a respective shuttle (7), in which exactly one item (2) received is in particular exactly one beverage container (4) or exactly one container (5), which has several beverage containers (4) held together. Method (100) according to one of Claims 7 until 9 , in which the received articles (2) are moved over the several shuttles (7) in such a way that several received articles (2) form a group (6) of articles (2) in a grouping area (42) of the unloading station (40), in which group (6) the articles (2) have a defined arrangement and a defined orientation to one another and in which method (100) a group (6) with its articles (2) is connected via a respective push rod (45) with rear contact from the respective shuttle (7) are pushed from the grouping area (42) into a packaging area (44) of the unloading station (40), in which, with the help of at least one manipulator (46), a respective group (6) of articles (2) with at least one packaging is provided. Procedure (100) according to Claim 10 , in which the respective push rod (45) comes into contact at the rear with the respective group (6) of articles (2) at least approximately at the same time when the several shuttles (7) finish forming a respective group (6) of articles (2). have. Procedure according to one of the Claims 7 until 11 , in which lateral lateral surfaces of articles (2) already received via the several shuttles (7) are provided with an application of adhesive, so that articles (2) already received via the several shuttles (7) reach the unloading station (40) with an already on one achieve the adhesive application applied to the respective lateral surface.

Images