Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
  • B65G47/22—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors
  • B65G47/24—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors orientating the articles
  • B65G47/244—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors orientating the articles by turning them about an axis substantially perpendicular to the conveying plane

Definitions

• the invention relates in particular to a device for orienting on a conveyor objects having substantially two axes of symmetry, and, in particular, an installation equipped with such a device.
• objects having substantially two axes of symmetry objects that can be oriented in two different ways.
• these objects may be of parallelepipedal shape, and be arranged presenting either their large side oriented in a given direction, or with their small side oriented along said given direction. It may also be lots of substantially parallelepiped shaped products, such as packages of bottles of water or milk, or boxes with two axes of symmetry, open or closed boxes, with the flaps closed, forming the bottom of the box ...
• Parallelepiped objects such as cardboard packaging cases, sometimes need to be oriented in a certain way, for example when they arrive at a filling station.
• Such devices are generally of two categories.
• the first category concerns devices that implement a belt driven in rotation in the opposite direction of the conveying direction and disposed on the edge of the conveyor, to allow rotation of the parallelepipedic object coming into contact with it.
• WO 92/18388 illustrates an example of such devices.
• the second category concerns devices that implement a pivoting arm that rotates the parallelepipedic object when the latter bears against it.
• EP 0 074 129 and EP 0 340 502 describe two examples of this type of device.
• Each of the known devices has the disadvantage of being designed in relation to a single type of object to be oriented. In other words, each of the known devices can orient only one type of parallelepiped object because it has dimensions adapted to the parallelepiped object to orient, and it is animated by a particular movement, also specific to the object.
• the invention relates to an installation comprising a device capable of orienting parallelepipedic objects, the device being able to adapt to different shapes or dimensions of parallelepipedic objects.
• the invention relates for this purpose to an installation comprising a device for orienting objects which have substantially two axes of symmetry, arranged on a conveyor, the installation being remarkable
• the device comprises four arms arranged perpendicular to one another so as to form a cross, the arms being mounted on a frame, said frame being rotatably mounted about a common axis of rotation which is perpendicular to the plane said conveyor,
• each arm is mounted to move in rectilinear translation along a line segment, said segments being offset by a distance from the common axis of rotation, said segments intersecting by forming a square centered on said common axis of rotation,
• the installation comprises transverse displacement means of the common axis of rotation of the device relative to the longitudinal axis of said conveyor of said objects.
• the device that includes the installation allows the movement of the arms to bring one of their ends to the axis of rotation, or to move them away from this axis.
• the design formed by the arms can thus adapt to the dimensions of different parallelepipedic objects.
• the device ensures a continuous orientation of the objects, thanks to the cross arrangement of the arms and their rotational movement about a common vertical axis.
• the installation according to the invention may also comprise the following features, taken separately or in combination: the installation comprises means for controlling the simultaneous movement of the arms along said segments in the trigonometric direction or in the counterclockwise direction; each arm is oriented at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the direction of the straight segment on which it is movably mounted; the arms are adjustable by movement in a plane and each arm has a central end which is adapted to move on a line which is at a 135 ° angle with the arm; the arms have suction cups holding the objects during their orientation; the installation includes a suction circuit that includes:
• a rotary joint equipped with several outlets, each outlet supplying a distributor
• the device is mounted on a structure forming a gantry spanning said conveyor;
• the installation comprises means for spacing the objects to be oriented by a predetermined distance and, preferably, said predetermined distance is at least equal to one and a half times the size of the box on the conveyor and, more preferably, the means for spacing the objects comprise several conveyors aligned one after the other, each conveyor having a length and a speed of advance such that the objects are in the vicinity of the orientation device being spaced from the next device by a space at least equal to half of its size on the conveyor; said distance, after distance S, ensuring the shift of the segments relative to the common axis of rotation, corresponds to the following formula:
• - L is the length of the parallelepiped object to be oriented
• e is the thickness of an arm of the device
• the conveyor comprises means adapted to support a rotation of said objects without deformation and, preferably, the conveyor comprises a mat which has pallet chains, or modular chains open mesh or closed meshes.
• the invention also aims at the device implemented in the installation defined above, as such, for orienting objects which have substantially two axes of symmetry, arranged on a conveyor, the device being remarkable in that it comprises four arms arranged perpendicular to each other so as to form a cross, said arms being mounted on a frame, said frame being rotatably mounted about a common axis of rotation which is perpendicular to the plane of said conveyor, each arm is mounted movable in rectilinear translation along a line segment, said segments being offset by a distance from the common axis of rotation, said segments intersecting by forming a square centered on said common axis of rotation.
• the device according to the invention may also include the following features, taken separately or in combination:
• the arms have suction cups for holding objects during their orientation.
• FIG. 1 shows an installation according to the invention, in front view and shown schematically;
• FIG. 2A shows, in plan view, the installation illustrated in FIG. 1;
• Figure 2B is an enlargement of a portion of Figure 2A;
• Figure 3 illustrates a portion of the installation shown in Figures 1 and 2, in profile, and more specifically the arms arranged at different levels above a conveyor;
• FIGS. 4a to 4c show the translation movements of the arms along line segments forming a parallelogram, between a position where the arms are further apart from the common axis of rotation and a position where they are as close as possible to the common axis of rotation;
• FIGS. 5A and 5B show the movement of the arms and the position of an object of square section in two positions during the orientation of this object by the device, the arms of the device being as close as possible to the axis of rotation;
• FIGS. 6A and 6B show the movement of the arms and the position of an object of rectangular section in two positions during the orientation of this object by the device, the arms of the device being separated from the axis of rotation; device being designed to orient cartons presenting transversely;
• FIG. 6C shows an alternative embodiment of the device shown in FIG. 6A, the arms of the device being spaced apart from the axis of rotation, the device being designed to orient cartons presenting longitudinally,
• FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a device whose arms are equipped with wedges, and these figures show the movement of the arms and the position of an object of rectangular cross-section having lateral flaps in two positions, during the orientation of this object by the device, the arms of the device being spaced apart from the axis of rotation;
• FIG. 8 schematically illustrates, in side view, a part of the installation according to the invention which comprises a suction supply circuit that can present the arms of the device;
• FIG. 9 is a view from above of part of the installation shown in FIG. 8.
• FIGS. 1 and 2 show an installation 1 according to the invention, which comprises a device 2, also in accordance with the invention, able to orient objects 3 or 30 on a conveyor 4 comprising several conveyors 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19, aligned one after the other and defined subsequently.
• the objects 3 or 30 have a parallelepiped shape and, in particular, respectively a cubic shape or a rectangular parallelepiped shape.
• the objects 30 are oriented on the conveyor 4 with their long sides which are parallel to the direction of movement of the conveyor 4 (direction of movement indicated by an arrow).
• the device 2 ensuring the orientation of the objects 3 or 30 disposed on the conveyor 4 is mounted on a structure 5, gantry-shaped, spanning the conveyor 4.
• the structure 5 ensures a good balance of the device above the conveyor 4 thanks to the presence of four feet 51 distributed on either side of the conveyor 4.
• the structure 5 has guide rails 6 which are disposed transversely relative to the conveyor 4 and which extend on either side of the gantry.
• Each of the ball guide systems 7 is connected to the ends of a bar 60, on which is fixed the device 2 according to the invention.
• the installation 1 has many means ensuring a transverse displacement of the device 2 relative to the Z axis of the conveyor 4, these means including the ball guide systems 7, which are fixed at the ends. of the bar 60 and they are free moving in the rails 6.
• the device 2 comprises four arms 81, 82, 83 and 84, which are arranged perpendicular to each other, so as to form a cross (See also Figures 4a, 4b and 4c).
• the arms 81 to 84 are mounted integral in rotation about a common Z axis of rotation which is perpendicular to the plane P of the conveyor 4.
• the arms 81 to 84 are attached to the ends of rods 91 to 94 respectively, vertical, that is to say perpendicular to the plane P of the conveyor 4.
• the other end of the vertical rods 91 to 94 is movably mounted on a linear element 1 0, forming a straight segment.
• the assembly formed by the arms 81 to 84, the segments 1 0 and the rods 91 to 94 is mounted on a frame 1 00, which can be described as "cross-frame".
• the chassis 1 00 is shown in more detail in FIG. 2B.
• the frame 1 00 is of square shape and carries the segments 1 0 of right around its sides.
• the right segments are connected at their ends by means of angle return systems.
• the frame 100 cross-holder is rotatably mounted about the Z axis by means of a motor 1 1, as shown in Figures 1 and 2A. .
• Each of the arms 81 to 84, secured respectively to the vertical rods 91 to 94, is thus mounted to move in rectilinear translation along a segment 1 0 of right.
• Each segment 10 of the right is shifted by a distance S with respect to the common Z axis of rotation.
• this distance S has the following formula: or :
• L is the length of the parallelepipedal object 3 or 30 to be oriented
• W is the width of the object 3 or 30 parallelepiped to orient
• the installation comprises means 800 for controlling the movement of the arms. These means 800 constitute a common set point for each of the arms 81 to 84.
• control means 800 have been shown very schematically.
• crank 801 may, for example, comprise a crank 801 and an associated counter 802, which together enable the arms 81 to 84 to be moved to precise positions on the right segments, which positions are predetermined for particular objects.
• control means 800 could be made differently, without departing from the scope of the invention.
• the means 800 could be motorized.
• the four arms 81 to 84 can move from a star configuration (see FIG. 4a) to a cross configuration (see FIG. 4c), by moving these arms 81 to 84 in a counter-clockwise direction (see dashed arrows in Figures 4b and 4c).
• the actuation of the crank 801 moves the arms 81 to 84 by movement of the ends of the rods 91 to 94, on the right segments, in the trigonometrical direction. .
• FIG. 4d shows an exemplary embodiment allowing this translation: the segments 10 on the right comprise, over at least a part of their length, a thread 101 (the segments 10 can be made in the form of worm) and the vertical rods 91 to 94 have at their end a tubular portion 901, forming a T with the rod 91, having an internal thread 902 which is complementary to the thread 101 of the segments 10 on the right.
• the rotational drive in one direction of the right-hand segments causes the arms 81 to 84 to move in one direction and the rotation drive in the other direction consequently causes the translation movement of the arms 81 to 84 in the other way.
• the displacement of the arms is in a plane which is parallel to the plane P of the conveyor 4.
• each arm 81 to 84 is oriented at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the direction of the right segment 10 on which it is movably mounted.
• the arms 81 to 84 are suspended above the conveyor 4 at different heights, as can be seen in particular in FIG.
• the vertical rods 91 to 94 to which the arms are suspended have different lengths.
• the arm 81 which is at the most ready of the conveyor is at a height M. of the conveyor and the second, third and fourth arms 82 to 84 are respectively at a height h2, h3 and h4 of the conveyor.
• the height h4 which is the height farthest from the conveyor 17, is less than the height h of the object 3 shown in FIG. 3, without which the object 3 could not bear on the arm 84.
• the arms 81 to 84 can form either a star (FIGS. 4a and 4b), or a cross (FIG. 4c) thus providing, two by two, two bearing surfaces for an object 3 of parallelepipedal shape (cubic, in the example shown in Figure 3); the length of support of an arm on one side of the object 3 can thus be adjusted by changing the conformation taken by the arms 81 to 84.
• the device 2 can be moved transversely relative to the conveyor 4 thanks to the ball guide system 7 and to the guide rails 6 provided in the structure 5.
• the axis Z of rotation of the device can also be displaced transversely with respect to the conveyor 4.
• the objects arriving on the conveyor 4 are initially oriented in a certain direction.
• the object 30 is oriented transversely with respect to the conveyor 4.
• the object 30 is nestled between two consecutive arms, for example the arms 81 and 84 of the device 2 according to the invention (see, for example, Figure 6a).
• the arms 84 and 81 being rotated by the motor 1 1 around the Z axis (see arrow R in Figure 6a), and the object 30 which is nestled between the arms 81 and 84, is located reoriented after 90 ° rotation of the arms 81 and 84 about the Z axis (see Figure 6b).
• the object 30, which was thus oriented transversely relative to the conveyor 4, is reoriented in a longitudinal direction when it is evacuated.
• the object 30 could have initially oriented longitudinally and reoriented in a transverse direction before being evacuated.
• Figure 6c shows such an object appearing longitudinally on the conveyor before being reoriented.
• the device 2 according to the invention also makes it possible to reorient cubic objects 3 having a face W on which is inscribed, for example, a product reference or its content (the side W bearing the reference is marked by a succession of arrows aligned).
• FIGS 7a and 7b show yet another embodiment of the device 2 according to the invention.
• the device 2 comprises shims 13 which are removably mounted on the arms 81 to 84.
• This embodiment has for particular application the reorientation of boxes 300 having flaps 14, the boxes 300 being conveyed lying down on the side on the conveyor 4.
• one of the flaps 14 of the box 300 is inserted between an arm 81 and a shim 13 attached to an arm 84. adjacent, by translation T of the device 2 thanks to the ball guide system 7 and the guide rails 6 of the structure 5.
• the device 2 is rotated R, so that the arms 81 to 84 rotate 90 ° about the Z axis.
• the box 300 is thus redirected on the conveyor 4 while still being in a supine position.
• the box 300 can then be filled laterally, downstream of the orientation device 2 according to the invention.
• the distance S which is the offset distance of the segments 10 from the straight line relative to the common axis Z of rotation, corresponds to the following formula:
• L is the length of the parallelepipedic object 300 to be oriented
• W is the width of the parallelepipedic object 300 to be orientated
• e is the thickness of an arm of the device
• the arms 81 to 84 can be equipped with suction cups 12 (see Figure 3).
• suction cups 12 are optional.
• the suction cups 12 are associated with suction means (not shown) which make it possible to generate a suction effect on the external face of the object 3, 30 or 300 which would be in front of them.
• the suction means can be activated and deactivated by automation methods known to those skilled in the art.
• the presence of the suction cups 12 may also be useful in the case where the object is, by its shape, unstable. They may be, for example, objects that have a height much greater than their length or width. It can also be objects, such as crates, which are not completely filled. In such a case, the objects can be unbalanced during rotation of the arms due to their contents moving due to centrifugal force.
• a circuit 20 supplies the suction cups 12, as shown in FIG.
• the circuit 20 comprises a supply 21 of compressed air: it is, for example, a conduit connected, on the one hand, to a device adapted to deliver compressed air (not shown) and secondly at a rotary joint 22.
• the duct is disposed in the Z axis of rotation of the device according to the invention.
• the rotating joint 22 is a housing which has an inlet, connected to the compressed air supply duct, and several outlets 23, each outlet 23 supplying a distributor 24 with compressed air.
• Each distributor 24 is connected to a block of suction cups 12, that is to say to an element which carries the suction cups 12 and which is connected to an arm 81, 82, 83 or 84.
• each distributor 24 supplies with compressed air a block of suction cups associated with an arm.
• the supply of compressed air causes a depression in the suction cups 12, which creates the desired suction effect to maintain in place an object to be oriented.
• the compressed air supply must, to this end, be punctual, so as to release the object once it is oriented correctly.
• FIG. 9 shows a part of the device illustrated in FIG. 8, but rotated 90 ° (clockwise) with respect to the view from above that would have been obtained from FIG. 8.
• FIGS. 1 and 2 in particular, to present characteristics specific to the conveyor 4 of the installation 1 according to the invention.
• the installation 1 comprises a conveyor 4 which is produced by a succession of conveyors 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 of different length and speed of advance.
• the rotation of the arms 81 to 84 may be hampered or the objects 3, 30 or 300 may be damaged by the rotation of the arms 81 to 84.
• the spaces left between the objects that appear in front of the device 2 are at least equal to half the size of the object 3, 30 or 300 on the conveyor 4. It will be understood by "space" the length or width of the object 3, 30 or 300, depending on whether said object is placed longitudinally or transversely on the conveyor 4.
• the size of the object 3, 30 or 300 is equal to the dimension of the side of said object which is oriented longitudinally with respect to the conveyor 4.
• the congestion of the object 3 is equal to W or L (the object 3 being a cube),
• the size of the object 30 before reorientation is equal to w in the example illustrated in FIG. 6a, or is equal to L in the example illustrated in FIG. 2A, and
• the congestion of the object 300 before reorientation is equal to w in the example illustrated in FIG. 7a.
• the speeds of the conveyors are, whatever the size of the objects, calculated according to the length of the arms.
• the succession of conveyors having different lengths and speeds of advance, is such that the objects 3, 30 or 300 oriented are spaced from each other by a distance called "step" which is at least equal to one time and half the congestion of said objects.
• FIG 1 shows the conveyor 4 which comprises the succession of conveyors 1 5, 1 6, 1 7, 1 8 and 1 9.
• a first conveyor 1 5 has the function of bringing the objects 3, 30 or 300 to the device 2 according to the invention.
• the conveyor 1 5 is thus an accumulation conveyor on which the objects 3, 30 or 300 are arranged key-touch one behind the other.
• a conveyor 1 6 of pacing is provided just behind the conveyor 1 5 accumulation.
• the conveyor 16 for setting has a feed rate greater than the feed speed of the accumulation conveyor. It also has a length that is substantially equal to at least one and a half times the size of the object 3, 30 or 300 (depending on the object to which the device 2 applies) on the conveyor 4.
• the conveying conveyor 16 is followed by a reinforced conveyor bearing the reference 17.
• the reinforced conveyor 17 has a feed speed greater than or equal to the feed speed of the conveyor 16, and a length at least equal to two and a half times the size of the object 3, 30 or 300 (depending on the object to which device 2 applies) on the conveyor.
• the reinforced conveyor 17 is a conveyor designed to support a rotation of the objects 3, 30 or 300 without deforming.
• the conveyor 17 which supports the objects 3, 30 or 300 which are reoriented undergoes deformations due to the friction of said objects at the time of their reorientation.
• the reinforced conveyor 17 may be followed by a conveyor 18 called "safety", whose feed speed is greater than the feed speed of the reinforced conveyor 17 and whose length is substantially equal to at least once the space requirement. of the object 3, 30 or 300 (depending on the object to which the device 2 applies) on the conveyor 4.
• This safety conveyor 18 is optional. It makes it possible to quickly evacuate the object that has just been reoriented and it prevents the reoriented objects from piling up at the exit of the reorientation device 2, which would also lead to a malfunction of the device 2 according to the invention. . Finally, behind the safety conveyor 18, there is provided an evacuation conveyor 19 whose feed speed is less than the feed speed of the safety conveyor 18.
• This evacuation conveyor 19 has the function of driving the objects 3, 30 or 300 reoriented to conditioning stations located downstream of the device 2 according to the invention.
• FIGS. 4a to 4c how the arms 81 to 84 are movably mounted on the right-hand segments forming a square.
• the device 2 can be moved transversely to the conveyor 4.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Specific Conveyance Elements (AREA)

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• 2010
  • 2010-05-11 FR FR1053669A patent/FR2959989B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2011
  • 2011-05-10 WO PCT/FR2011/051050 patent/WO2011141676A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2011-05-10 EP EP11725149A patent/EP2569233A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 2011-05-10 MX MX2012013086A patent/MX2012013086A/es not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2011-05-10 US US13/641,744 patent/US20130037382A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2011-05-10 CN CN201180019727.9A patent/CN102869590A/zh active Pending
  • 2011-05-10 BR BR112012028740A patent/BR112012028740A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation

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