EP2464586B1 - Concept for increasing efficiency of robotic packaging systems - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL AREA

The present invention generally relates to a concept for increasing the efficiency of linear robotic packaging equipment during normal operation and failure of equipment parts. In particular, the invention relates to a method for converting piece goods of at least one extending in the transport direction cargo conveyor in storage positions of at least one in the transport direction of the / of the Stückgutförderer / s same or opposite transport direction extending storage position conveyor in a robot road with two-sided storage position conveyor preferably on both sides of a longitudinal center , in one-sided storage position conveyor preferably laterally of the longitudinal center of / of the unit load / s a width arranged robots, the piece goods are picked by the robot from the / the Stückgutförderer / n and stored in storage positions on the storage position conveyors. Within the scope of the invention is also a plant for carrying out the method.

STATE OF THE ART

Products, such as biscuits, biscuits or chocolate products, should be stored in many places at predetermined locations of a package or a delivery system of a subsequent packaging plant. Examples are the orderly storage of products in plastic trays, which are then usually additionally wrapped with a tubular bag and / or carton packaging or closed with a lid film and occasionally further packed, or the direct storage of products in a supply system such as a supply chain or a Feed belt of a packaging plant. If the products are placed in packaging, they can be supplied to the plant or even produced directly on the packaging plant.

The products can come directly from an upstream production process or a warehouse, where for reasons of product protection, hygiene and manufacturing costs is usually packed directly from the manufacturing process. Frequently changing products require packaging systems of greatest flexibility.

• Parallele Anordnung von Behältertransport/Kette und Produktstrom. Die Beladung der Behälter oder eines anderen Abtransportsystems wie z.B. eine Kette erfolgt vorzugsweise von zwei Seiten im Gegenstrom oder im Gleichstrom. Das Gegenstromverfahren ist dabei hier meist vorteilhaft, da sich mit diesem eine höhere Anlagenleistung erzielen lässt. Eine solche Anlage ist z.B. aus US-A- 6 122 895 bekannt. Eine entsprechende Anlage wurde in der EP-A-1 717 150 mit einer Anlage zur Herstellung und zum Verschliessen von Kunststofftrays kombiniert.

For the packaging of large-volume product flows, the following two plant concepts are in particular common:

• Parallel arrangement of container transport / chain and product flow. The loading of the containers or other Abtransportsystems such as a chain is preferably carried out from two sides in countercurrent or cocurrent. The countercurrent process is here usually advantageous because it can achieve a higher system performance with this. Such a system is eg off US-A-6,122,895 known. A corresponding plant was in the EP-A-1 717 150 combined with a plant for the production and closing of plastic trays.

A generic system for implementing va Stückgutern is from the WO-A-2008/003350 known.

Since the power of robots is greater, the shorter the distances a robot must travel, usually two robots are arranged in pairs across the width of the product flow, with one robot placing the products of the left half of the product flow into a removal system on the On the left side of the plant and a robot clearing the products of the right half of the belt to a removal system on the right side of the product stream. For example, the filled container streams are fed to two tubular packaging machines which further pack the containers of the left or right side of the plant. The parallel arrangement allows a compact design with good system overview.

Alternatively, there is the variant in which product flow and removal are arranged perpendicular to each other. The robots are here arranged in cells, which deposit the products in each case on an above transversely over the product flow arranged removal device. With this arrangement also short pick & place ways can be realized. A major disadvantage of this arrangement, however, is the large footprint, especially in facilities with high performance and a large number of robots - there are facilities with over 24 robots known. In particular, everyone has Robots with this type of plant its own transport system. Since usually a single robot has too little output to utilize the subsequent system, these discharge streams must be brought together again, which additionally increases the plant. If the products are placed in containers, such as trays, they must be fed separately for each robot.

Because of the above-mentioned disadvantages, the parallel arrangement of product and container stream (possibly removal stream) is therefore preferred, in particular in the so-called countercurrent process, especially in the case of large plants with a multiplicity of robots. For performance reasons, as explained above, the robots are preferably arranged in pairs, so that a robot processes the left and a robot processes the right half of the product flow.

A disadvantage of this arrangement, however, is that at standstill of one of the two Abtransportsysteme, such as. often occurs for a short time, when a malfunction occurs in the corresponding downstream packaging system or e.g. a roll of packaging material needs to be replaced, half of the products can not be packaged because the robots can not reach the products on the opposite side of the product stream. Mostly, therefore, the entire system must be stopped, or the products go into the "overflow" and thus usually lost. Stopping the plant is especially problematic if the products are taken over directly from a production process, since this -. baking biscuit - can not be easily interrupted. However, this case is the rule for this type of equipment. In this case, the products are lost on half of the system whose removal system is located.

If this is to be avoided, the system can be supplemented by a storage system which receives the products when the system is at a standstill. However, because the product stream can only be completely stopped, this means that if half of the product stream can not be packaged because a transfer system is stopped, all production must be diverted to storage. According to the memory must be large, which means in addition to the space, investment and maintenance needs also that it takes a correspondingly long time to pack the products from the memory are when the system is running again. In addition to the products from the storage, as the current production still has to be packaged, the system also has to have a rather large overcapacity in order to manage the dismantling of a large store in addition to the normal production.

An obvious solution to this problem would be to divide the product stream into two "narrower" streams before the packaging line, which are processed by two narrower packaging machines, which manage without paired robots and have only one transport system each. However, this procedure leads to much larger and more expensive plants.

There are also known plants with lower power, in which only one Abtransportsystem exists on a plant side. In these systems, the robots are usually arranged so that they can pick products from the whole width of the product flow and place them on the removal system. If the product flow is wide, the necessary picking paths are correspondingly long.

PRESENTATION OF THE INVENTION

The invention has for its object to provide a method of the type mentioned above and a suitable method for performing the method, which does not have the above-mentioned disadvantages of systems of the prior art. In particular, the system should be able to continue packaging during a short-term shutdown of a removal system - with a correspondingly reduced capacity - without having to stop it completely. The number of products that in this case overflow or need to be stored for later processing should be kept as low as possible.

With regard to the method according to the invention, with regard to the method, at least one part of the piece goods traverses the robot line at one point of the robot line transversely to the transport direction of the / of the piece goods conveyor into the picking area on the other side of the longitudinal center of the unit load conveyor arranged robot is transported.

The proposed solution is derived from the system type with parallel arrangement of product flow and Abtransportsystem, preferably in countercurrent process, with robots or robots in pairs, as this type of plant, as described above, especially in very large plants, the best efficiency.

In order to still be able to pack the entire product flow - at a reduced capacity - at a standstill of one of the two removal systems, as required, the products must be brought to the opposite side on the side of the system whose discharge system is in place, so that they can be placed in reach the work area of the robots with the current removal system. The solution according to the invention therefore consists of a system in which the products can be brought along the path through the system from one side of the product stream to the opposite side.

One solution is that the robots located on the side of a stationary storage position conveyor bring the piece goods lying in their working area into the working area of the robots of the current storage position conveyor. The robots on the side with the transport system can place the products close to the middle of the product transport so that they can be reached by the robots on the other side with an overlapping work area. Even with this solution, these robots have to travel a long pick & place, as all products have to be picked near the center of the belt. This also results in a low performance. In addition, the necessary pick & place strategies - which must be changed quickly in the event of a short-term shutdown of a removal system - are quite complex.

The at least one part of the piece goods is preferably transported at least into the area of the longitudinal center, preferably from one side to the other side of the longitudinal center of the unit load conveyor / s.

The transport transversely to the transport direction of / of the unit load conveyor / s can be carried out by means of a transport system or by intersecting transport systems.

The transport transversely to the transport direction of the / the Stückgutförderer / s can be performed permanently or even during or shortly before a standstill of a plant side or a storage position conveyor.

In an advantageous implementation of the method according to the invention, the robots essentially pick piece goods in the edge regions of the piece goods conveyor / s and the transport of the piece goods transversely to the transport direction of the piece goods conveyor / s is for shifting from an area on both sides of the longitudinal center of / of the unit load conveyor / s used in the edge areas of / of the piece goods conveyor / s. The width of the edge regions expediently corresponds to approximately one quarter of the width of the / of the piece goods conveyor / s.

With the method according to the invention, it is also possible to process different products, i. To fill in a container by at least two different cargo to be transported simultaneously on the / the Stückgutförderer / - for example, two or more different products, on the left half of the cargo conveyor a product A or several different products and on the right half a product B or several different products - and the robots in front of the robot road where the parcels are transported transversely to the transport direction of the parcel conveyor / s into the picking area of the robot arranged on the other side of the longitudinal center of the parcel conveyor / s, Pick pieces of at least a first grade and place them in a corresponding number of first storage positions on the storage position conveyors, and the robots to the position of the robot road, in which the piece goods transversely to the transport direction of the / the piece goods conveyor / s in the picking area on the other side of the longitudinal center (m) the / d it transported piece goods conveyor / s arranged robot pick pieces of at least a second grade and place in a corresponding number of second storage positions on the storage position conveyors. With this procedure, so-called. Assortment container can be easily packaged.

A system suitable for carrying out the method comprises a robot line with at least one piece goods conveyor extending in a transport direction and at least one in the direction of transport of the unit load conveyor or the same The robots for picking the piece goods from the / the Stückgutförderer / n and depositing in storage positions on the storage position conveyors on both sides of a longitudinal center of the / the Stückgutförderer / s a width are arranged opposite transport direction extending storage position conveyor. At least one transport system for transporting the piece goods transversely to the transport direction of the piece goods conveyor / s into the picking area of the robot arranged on the other side of the longitudinal center of the unit load conveyor / s is arranged at one point of the robot line. Preferably, intersecting transport systems are arranged.

For this purpose, the transport system of the product stream is interrupted and at least one intermediate transport system is used, with which the product flow of the left half is brought to the right and vice versa. In turn, a transport system in the entire system width can connect to the intermediate transport systems. It is also possible to continue driving after the crossing with two separate transport systems for each half of the plant, which can be stopped separately in case of further disturbances.

Transport systems which can realize such a page change are known. For example, floor bands are used. With multi-storey tapes, different product flow curves can also be realized, with which it is possible to switch between them if required.

Preference is given to a transport system that crosses permanently. Despite the non-straight-line product flow, this solution offers advantages both during normal operation of the storage position conveyors and when one half of the plant is at a standstill.

A crossed transport system is easy to implement and does not bring the disadvantages of the floor tapes such as high costs, space and complexity with it. Such a solution extends the packaging system only slightly and requires no further measures, except that before the intersection a small gap in the longitudinal center of the product flow must be ensured.

It is therefore proposed in a preferred embodiment, the page change in principle, ie permanently, regardless of whether one of

Transport systems have just been stopped or whether both systems are active.

As an added benefit, the products that are near the middle of the product stream are close to the edge after the page break, meaning a short pick & place path for the following robots, as they are now close to the removal system.

An advantageous strategy is therefore in the inventive system that the robots always pick products in the outer quarter of the product flow. The products of the inner half of the product stream do not need to be picked as they will automatically come to rest in the two outer quarters after crossing.

Thus, the pick & place ways in the inventive system in normal operation on average significantly shorter than in a system which makes no side changes of the products, resulting in a significantly increased system performance. The intersection thus also brings advantages in normal operation.

If a transfer system is at a standstill, the system can still package all products with reduced performance. If the production can not be correspondingly reduced and the surplus products are temporarily stored in a storage system, this can be rapidly reduced in addition to the ongoing production, in particular due to the higher capacity reserves of a plant with side change due to the mentioned shorter picking paths.

Furthermore, the variant is conceivable that the Abtransportsystem is crossed and not the product flow. This would allow the entire product flow to be packaged even if the transport system was stationary, but the pick & place routes would not be positively influenced.

• Es sind breitere Produktströme mit kleinen Robotern abräumbar, da die Roboter nicht bis in die Mitte des Transportsystems reichen müssen.
• Es ergibt sich eine optimale Ausnutzung der auf kurze Wege und High-Speed getrimmten Roboter.
• Durch erhöhte Leistung reduziert sich die Roboteranzahl, was zu einer kompakteren und kostengünstigeren Anlage führt.

Further advantages of the page change are:

• Broader product flows can be cleared away with small robots, since the robots do not have to reach the middle of the transport system.
• This results in an optimal utilization of the short ways and high-speed trimmed robot.
• Increased performance reduces the number of robots, resulting in a more compact and cost-effective system.

• Produkte können immer mit optimal kurzem Verfahrweg abgeräumt werden. Durch den Seitenwechsel ergibt sich für die Roboter ein kleiner Arbeitsbereich, breite Bänder sind mit kleinem Roboter abräumbar.
• Die Roboterarbeitsbereiche werden optimal ausgenutzt, durch Einsparung von Robotern resultiert eine Kostenreduktion.
• Es sind keine einzelnen Roboter mit grossem Arbeitsbereich erforderlich, es ergibt sich eine kompakte und einheitliche Anlage.
• Ein einseitiger Betrieb, z.B. nur auf einem Ast einer Schlauchpackmaschine, ist problemlos möglich.

The solution with fixed crossing of the transport system combines the advantages of all shown solutions, reduces their disadvantages and has the following advantages even in normal operation:

• Products can always be cleared with an optimally short travel path. The page change results in a small working area for the robots, and wide belts can be removed with a small robot.
• The robot work areas are optimally utilized, saving money by robots results in a cost reduction.
• There are no single robots with a large work area required, it results in a compact and uniform system.
• One-sided operation, eg only on a branch of a tubular packaging machine, is easily possible.

• Bei Stillstand einer Verpackungsmaschine kann die laufende Seite komplett versorgt werden. Eine Produktion von ca. 60% ist möglich, je nach Überschwingkapazität bis zu 100%.
• Es ergibt sich eine einfache Steuerungsstrategie, da der Betriebsmodus immer gleich bleibt, auch bei Ausfall einer Verpackungsmaschine.
• Bei geplantem Stillstand ist ein Wechsel auf die andere Seite im Wesentlichen ohne Ausschuss möglich.
• Bei nicht allzu lange dauerndem Stillstand einer Seite kann das zugehörige Transportsystem als zusätzlicher Pufferspeicher genutzt werden.

When a system component is at a standstill, the following advantages result:

• When a packaging machine is at a standstill, the current page can be completely supplied. A production of about 60% is possible, depending on the overshoot capacity up to 100%.
• The result is a simple control strategy, since the operating mode always remains the same, even in case of failure of a packaging machine.
• At planned shutdown, a change to the other side is essentially possible without waste.
• If the page does not stand too long, the associated transport system can be used as an additional buffer.

Another advantage of the inventive system is that when standstill of a page not only disturbances can be better absorbed, but it can also be a page, z. B. for the purpose of cleaning or format change, deliberately stopped and on the second side at best with correspondingly reduced performance to be further produced. If one side is cleaned or changed, this can be done on the second page. This results in less production loss, which significantly increases the availability of the system.

Further, with the present system, the buffer size or distance of a subsequent packaging system can be reduced by individually controlled in its speed after crossing the cargo conveyor, which then only a portion of the width, preferably half the width of the cargo conveyor before the intersection and thus can take over a kind of buffering function. This provides the advantage that the buffer of the subsequent packaging system can be reduced and thus space and cost can be saved.

Another possibility of this system is to accomplish with the cargo conveyor after the crossing a spreading function in the direction of travel, i. Run this conveyor faster than the previous one to pull the products apart.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1

die Draufsicht auf eine konventionelle Anlage mit paralleler Anordnung von Stückgut- und Ablagepositionsförderern;

Fig. 2

die Draufsicht auf einen Teil einer Anlage mit gekreuztem Bandsystem bei Stillstand eines Abtransportbandes;

Fig. 3

eine Schrägsicht auf ein gekreuztes Bandsystem innerhalb einer Verpackungsanlage mit parallelem Produktstrom und Abtransportsystemen;

Fig. 4

die Draufsicht auf eine Anlage mit gekreuztem Bandsystem.

Further advantages, features and details of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments and from the drawing, which is merely illustrative and not restrictive interpreted. The drawing shows schematically in

Fig. 1

the top view of a conventional system with parallel arrangement of cargo and storage position conveyors;

Fig. 2

the top view of a part of a system with crossed belt system at standstill of a removal belt;

Fig. 3

an oblique view of a crossed belt system within a parallel product flow packaging and removal systems;

Fig. 4

the top view of a system with crossed tape system.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An in Fig. 1 shown unit or robot line 10 for moving piece goods has a arranged in a transport direction x cargo conveyor 12 with arranged on both sides of the cargo conveyor 12 storage position conveyors 14, 16. General cargo conveyor 12 and storage position conveyor 14, 16 are usually conveyor belts, plate chains or transport chains. The transport direction x 'of the parallel to the piece goods conveyor 12 arranged storage position conveyor 14, 16 is here opposite to the transport direction x of the piece goods conveyor 12, ie the system operates on the countercurrent process. On both sides of a longitudinal center m of the piece goods conveyor 12, robots or robots 18 are arranged in pairs and symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal center m along the robot road 10. The working area of each robot 18 extends from one of the storage position conveyors 14, 16 to approximately the longitudinal center m of the piece goods conveyor 12.

Fig. 2 shows the page change of cargo on the cargo conveyor 12 of the robot line 10 in a crossed belt system at standstill one of the storage position conveyor 14, 16. In the example shown, the storage position conveyor 14 is stationary.

The in the Fig. 3 and 4 illustrated band crossing 20 is preferably integrated into approximately approximately half the loading path in the robot 10 road. The result is the same Picking conditions along the entire route.

In order to allow the required course in the band crossing 20, a modular belt or the like is required as a means of transport. The transport system of the production process can be used up to the intersection. The transition from the conveyor belt to the module belt is possible in the flow direction with a knife edge on the conveyor belt.

After the ribbon crossing 20, optionally the modular belts 22, 24 can be continued or other transport systems can be used.

Advantageous is the continuation of the two strands after the intersection. Thus, the belt system can be stopped on one side and thus stopped at a one-sided production stop a band side. Here, the products remain largely preserved.

The first two robots or robots 18 can be placed further inward for better utilization of the work area. Their task is to clear the piece goods from the middle of the piece goods conveyor 12.

The free space of the center can also be different - e.g. by a spreading of the product carpet or by a kind of stationary or oscillating wedge - be implemented.

normal operation

The robots in front of the intersection clear the outer areas (outer quarter) of the respective product band side. At the intersection, the products are brought outwards in the center of the band. After the crossing, the robots can clear the outer areas of the respective product band side after the intersection.

Operation when the conveyor belt is stationary

Speed of the product band is reduced (eg to 60%). Other products run into a store. Robots on the current side completely empty this half of the product band in front of the intersection. After the intersection, the products are on the opposite side and can be cleared by the following robots.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

10 robot line 12 General cargo conveyor 14, 16 Deposition position conveyor 18 robot 20 intersection 22, 24 modular belts 26 Border areas of 12 28 Areas of 12 on both sides of m B Width of 12 x Transport direction of the piece goods conveyor x ' Transport direction of the storage position conveyor m Longitudinal center of 12

Claims (12)

1. Method by means of which articles from at least one article conveyor (12), which runs in a transporting direction (x), are transferred into set-down positions of at least one set-down-position conveyor, which runs in the transporting direction (+x', -x') which is the same as, or counter to, the transporting direction (x) of the article conveyor/s, in a robot processing line (10) with robots (18) arranged on at least one side of a longitudinal center (m) of the article conveyor/s (12) of a certain width (B), wherein the robots (18) pick the articles from the article conveyor/s (12) and set them down in set-down positions on the set-down-position conveyors (14, 16),
   characterized in that
   during passage through the robot processing line (10), at least some of the articles, at one location of the robot processing line (10), are transported, transversely to the transporting direction (x) of the article conveyor/s (12), into the picking region of the robots (18) arranged on the other side of the longitudinal center (m) of the article conveyor/s (12).
2. Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that the at least some of the articles are transported at least into the region of the longitudinal center (m), preferably from the one side to the other side of the longitudinal center (m) of the article conveyor/s (12).
3. Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that transportation in the direction transverse to the transporting direction (x) of the article conveyor/s (12) is carried out by means of a transporting system (20).
4. Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that transportation in the direction transverse to the transporting direction (x) of the article conveyor/s (12) is carried out by means of transporting systems (22, 24) which cross over one another.
5. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that transportation in the direction transverse to the transporting direction (x) of the article conveyor/s (12) is carried out on a permanent basis.
6. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that transportation in the direction transverse to the transporting direction (x) of the article conveyor/s (12) is carried out only during, or just prior to, stoppage of one side of the installation.
7. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the robots (18) pick only articles in peripheral regions (26) of the article conveyor/s (12), and transportation of the articles in the direction transverse to the transporting direction (x) of the article conveyor/s (12) is utilized for displacement out of a region (28) on either side of the longitudinal center (m) of the article conveyor/s (12) into the peripheral regions (26) of the article conveyor/s (12).
8. Method according to Claim 7, characterized in that the width of the peripheral regions (26, 28) corresponds approximately to a quarter of the width (B) of the article conveyor/s (12).
9. Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that the articles located in the operating range of the robots (18) arranged on the side of a stationary set-down-position conveyor (14) are brought by these robots into the operating range of the robots (18) of the operating set-down-position conveyor (16).
10. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 9, characterized in that at least two different articles are transported simultaneously on the article conveyor/s (12), and the robots (18) upstream of that location of the robot processing line (10) at which the articles are transported, transversely to the transporting direction (x) of the article conveyor/s (12), into the picking region of the robots (18) arranged on the other side of the longitudinal center (m) of the article conveyor/s (12) pick articles at least of a first type, and set them down in a corresponding number of first set-down positions on the set-down-position conveyors (14, 16), and the robots (18) downstream of that location of the robot processing line (10) at which the articles are transported, transversely to the transporting direction (x) of the article conveyor/s (12), into the picking region of the robots (18) arranged on the other side of the longitudinal center (m) of the article conveyor/s (12) pick articles at least of a second type, and set them down in a corresponding number of second set-down positions on the set-down-position conveyors (14, 16).
11. Installation for transferring articles, having a robot processing line (10) with at least one article conveyor (12), which runs in a transporting direction (x), and at least one set-down-position conveyor (14, 16), which runs in the transporting direction (+x', -x') which is the same as, or counter to, the transporting direction (x) of the article conveyor/s (12), wherein the robots (18), for picking the articles from the article conveyor/s (12) and setting them down in set-down positions on the set-down-position conveyors (14, 16), are arranged on either side of a longitudinal center (m) of the article conveyor/s (12) of a certain width (B),
    characterized in that
    one location of the robot processing line (10) has at least one transporting system for transporting the articles, transversely to the transporting direction (x) of the article conveyor/s (12), into the picking region of the robots (18) arranged on the other side of the longitudinal center (m) of the article conveyor/s (12).
12. Installation according to Claim 11, characterized by two transporting systems (22, 24) which cross over one another.

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