IE77642B1 - Package processing - Google Patents

Abstract

Cuts and joints of meat or other items are assembled into boxes 11 which are passed through workstations 13 where each box is weighed and given a reference, and a bar-code label 11L with the weight, reference, batch number, and date is printed (at 21) and attached to the box. Similar labels 15L are printed at 25 for pallets. The boxes are assembled onto the pallets. Hand scanners 26, 28 are used to scan box and pallet labels to generate messages each defining a transaction consisting of the addition of boxes to or the removal of boxes from a pallet, the transfer of boxes from one pallet to another, or the shipment out of a pallet. Data processing means 20 include database memory means for storing the box and pallet labels and a processor for maintaining associations between box and pallet labels in accordance with the messages from the scanner means, to thereby keep track of the boxes and pallets.

Description

Package Processing The present invention relates to systems for processing and combining packages of different sizes.

In the meat processing industry, it is usual for carcasses to be processed by being cut into joints, trimmed, boned, etc. The resulting joints and cuts are then conveyed to various workstations where they are assembled into boxes, according to various factors such as customer requirements, the nature of the cuts or joints, etc. These boxes then pass into a marshalling area where they are assembled onto pallets, again according to various factors including primarily the need to assemble together boxes for the same customer.

The general object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for controlling the processing of such boxes and pallets. Obviously the contents of the boxes need not be meat. It will also of course be realized that the term ·pallet' is used only to denote an assemblage of boxes, and includes a container of box form into (rather than onto) which the boxes are assembled.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for monitoring the processing of boxes and of pallets onto which the boxes are assembled, comprising: box label generation means for generating box labels, t each including a unique box identification, for attachment to the boxes; - 2 77642 pallet label generation means for generating pallet labels, each including a unique pallet identification, for attachment to the pallets; scanning means for scanning box and pallet labels to 5 generate messages each defining a transaction consisting of the addition of boxes to or the removal of boxes from a pallet; and data processing means comprising database memory means for storing the box and pallet labels and a processor for maintaining associations between box and pallet labels in accordance with the messages from the scanner means.

A system for controlling the assembling of cuts or joints of meat into boxes and assembling the boxes onto pallets and embodying the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a general diagram of the layout of the system; Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the data processing components of the system; Fig. 3 is a diagram of a box label showing the format of the bar code thereon; and Fig. 4 is a block diagram of the organization of the central processing unit (CPU) of the system.

Referring to Fig. 1, carcasses of meat are brought into a processing hall 10 where they are cut up, boned, etc. The resulting cuts or joints are placed in boxes 11, which are taken from the processing hall by means of a number of conveyors 12. Each conveyor consists of a number of belts which carry the boxes to a workstation and then on to a marshalling area 14. In the marshalling area, the boxes are transferred to pallets 15. The pallets are passed to a cold-room 16, and are taken out of the cold-room in due course for transport to the customers (typically wholesalers or large retailers).

The boxes 11 are labelled with bar code labels at the workstations 13, and the pallets 15 are labelled with bar code labels in the marshalling area 14. The labels are generated under the control of a central data processing unit (CPU) 20, and that unit uses the labels (which are sensed by various scanners, discussed below) to monitor the assembly of the boxes onto the pallets and the progress of the pallets.

Each workstation includes a printer 21 for printing box labels 11L with bar codes on them. The bar code labels may conveniently be adhesive labels, so that each label can readily be attached to its box as the box passes through the workstation. The format of the bar code 30 is shown in Fig. 3, and consists of 5 fields 31 to 35. Field 31 is a reference field, consisting of 12 digits (corresponding to 6 alphanumeric characters); field 32 is a batch number field, consisting of 2 digits; field 33 is a date field, consisting of 5 digits; field 34 is a weight field, consisting of 4 digits (so that it can record weights from 0.01 to 99.99 kg); and field 35 is a 1-digit check field.

Carcasses enter the processing hall 10 and are processed in batches (of variable sizes), and each batch is assigned to a particular conveyor or group of conveyors. Batch numbers are generated by the CPU 20, and passed to the workstations 13 where they are entered into the batch number field of the labels being printed at that workstation. The batch numbers are conveniently generated in sequential order, with new batch numbers being produced each morning. However, the batch numbers so generated and passed by the CPU to the workstations are only default values. The batch number is displayed by a display unit 23 at the workstation, and the operator may call up a previous batch number if desired (by means of a keyboard 24).

The date field has the current date (provided by the CPU 20) entered into it.

Each workstation includes a weighing unit 22 which weighs each box of meat as it enters the workstation; the output WT from the weighing unit is entered into the weight field.

For each box, the operator enters a code ID representing the customer and the type of product, by means of the keyboard 24. This code is entered into the reference field of the label.

The check field has entered into it a check digit generated as a suitable function of the digits of the other 4 fields. A convenient procedure is to multiply each digit in the other 4 fields by the digit position, sum these products, and take the unit digit of the sum. The calculation can be performed either in the workstation or by the CPU 20.

Each box thus enters the workstation, where it is weighed by the weighing unit 21. The label 11L is then printed. Once the label is printed, the operator attaches the label to the box, which then proceeds along the remainder of the conveyor to the marshalling area 14. Also, the contents of the various fields of the label are passed back to the CPU (or retained therein), which logs the labels in a database.

In the marshalling area 14, there is a printer 25 for generating pallet labels 15L, again under the control of the CPU 20. Each pallet label has a serial number and a check digit. The CPU may conveniently generate the pallet numbers in sequence, and calculate a check digit as for the box labels. Once a pallet label has been printed, it is attached to a pallet by an operator. The contents of the pallet labels are passed back to the CPU (or retained in therein), which logs the labels in the database so that the future progress of the pallet (including in particular its loading with boxes) can be monitored.

The pallet labels may obviously also contain further information identifying the nature or characteristics of the pallets (eg the customer). Alternatively, this information can be held in the CPU, associated with the pallet serial number, and displayed (by display means not shown) when desired, in response to the scanning of the pallet label (discussed below).

Instead of providing a pallet label printer 25, one of the workstations 13 on the conveyors 12 can be used to generate the pallet labels, by being taken off-line as a conveyor workstation either temporarily or permanently (eg for a shift or a day).

A scanner 26 is provided in the marshalling area, for scanning both box and pallet labels. The scanner has two confirmation keys, a positive confirmation key (which can conveniently be identified by a ' + ') and a negative confirmation key (which can conveniently be identified by a '-'); the negative confirmation key acts broadly as a 'delete' key, for a box, a pallet, or a transaction. The scanner can conveniently be a hand-held scanner which is linked or coupled to the CPU 20, either by means of a wire or infra-red link or by being plugged into a terminal 27 for down-loading at convenient intervals. More than one scanner can be used if desired. The CPU enters these records (box label contents and pallet label contents) into its database.

In the marshalling area, the boxes 11 are loaded onto the pallets 15. As this loading is done, the operator scans the labels of the pallet onto which the boxes are being loaded and the labels of those boxes with the scanner 26, confirming each label with the positive confirmation key. The transaction of loading those boxes onto the pallet is thus recorded. The pallet label can be read either before or after the box labels. If a pallet is loaded in two or more separate phases, its label will be read for each such phase, together with the labels of the boxes being loaded in that phase, each phase thus being treated as a separate transaction.

Boxes can also be removed from a pallet, with the removal transaction being recorded in either of two ways. If the pallet is to be cleared, ie all the boxes on it are to be removed, the pallet label is read and followed by the negative confirmation key. If only some boxes are to be removed from a pallet, the pallet label is read and confirmed in the usual way, and the labels of the boxes being removed and read and followed by the negative confirmation key.

If the entire contents of one pallet are to be transferred to another pallet, this can be achieved as a single transaction by scanning the first pallet label and entering by the negative confirmation key and following this by scanning the new pallet label and confirming this with the positive confirmation key. If only some boxes are to be transferred from one pallet to another, this can be achieved as a single transaction by expanding this scanning sequence to include the scanning of the scanning the box labels (and confirming them by the positive confirmation key) together with the scanning of the two pallet labels (the one being positively confirmed and the other negatively confirmed).

The loaded pallets are transferred to the cold-room 16, and in due course are removed therefrom for shipment to customers. A further scanner 28 is used to read the pallet labels as they leave the cold-room. The output of this scanner is also fed to the CPU 20 for storage in its database.

Fig. 4 shows the main features of the functional organization of the CPU 20. A batch number generator 40 generates the sequence of batch numbers, as discussed above, and provides the next batch number to a batch number register 40A. This batch number is passed to the workstations 13; as described above, it can be changed by the workstation operator if desired. A time and date unit 41 generates the current time and date, which is also fed to the workstations 14.

The workstations 14 feed back the reference field values (ID) entered by the operators at the workstations and the weights (WT) measured by the weighing units at the workstations. A register 42 assembles the contents of each box label as it is generated and printed at the workstation, this register having a structure matching the label structure shown in Fig. 3. A check digit calculation unit 43 calculates the check digit.

The contents of each box label 30, ie the value contained in the register 42, are passed from the register 42 into a database 45, and more specifically into a box labels store 46 therein. Similarly, the contents of the pallet labels are passed from the pallet label printer 25 to a pallet labels store 47 therein.

(For convenience, these values will be termed simply the box and pallet labels.) Obviously register 42 and the batch number register 40A may be duplicated for different workstations, and similarly there may be several pallet printers 25. The labels generated by these units will all be fed to the two stores 46 and 47 of the database 45.

The messages from the scanners 26 (in the marshalling area 14) and 28 (in the cold-room 16) are passed to a buffer store 49. Each of these messages represents a transaction: the association of boxes with a pallet (or a change in such association), or the removal of a pallet from the system (by its shipment to a customer). These messages are processed by a processor 50, which is coupled to the database 45.

Each location in the box label store 46 has an extension 46A which is used for storing a pointer to a location in the pallet label store 47, and each location in the pallet label store 47 has an extension 47A which is used for storing a plurality of pointers to locations in the box label store 46. The labels which are entered into the database from the register 42 and the pallet label printer 25 are 'bare', without pointers.

The processor 50 adds and manipulates the pointers in processing the messages from buffer 49.

There are various types of message, such as: the addition or association of boxes with a pallet; the removal of boxes from a pallet; the transfer of boxes from one pallet to another; the clearance of a pallet; and the shipment of a pallet out from the cold-room.

A message for the addition or association of boxes with a pallet contains the pallet label and the labels of the boxes being added to the pallet. For this, the processor 50 inserts, in the extension 46A of each of the locations containing the box labels, a pointer to the location of the pallet label; it also inserts pointers to all the box labels in the extension 47A of the location containing the pallet label. If any of the box label locations already contains a pointer, an error is signalled.

A message for the removal of boxes from a pallet contains the pallet label and the labels of the boxes being removed from the pallet. For this, the processor 50 removes, from the extension 46A of each of the locations containing the box labels, the pointer to the location of the pallet label; it also removes the pointers to all the box labels from the extension 47A of the location containing the pallet label. If any of the box label locations does not initially contain a pointer to the pallet label, or the pallet label extension does not initially contain pointers to all the . box labels, an error is signalled.

A message for the transfer of boxes from one pallet to another contains two pallet labels, one for the pallet from which the boxes are being removed and the other for the pallet to which they are being added, and the labels of the boxes involved. For this, the processor combines the operations for the addition or association of boxes with a pallet and the removal of boxes from a pallet.

A message for the clearance of a pallet contains just the pallet label. For this, the processor 50 uses the pointers of the pallet label extension to find the box labels to which those pointers point and, for each of those box labels, it deletes the pointer to the pallet. It also deletes the pointers in the extension 47A of the location containing the pallet label. If any of the box label locations did not a pointer to the pallet label, an error is signalled.

A message for the shipment of a pallet out from the cold-room also contains just the pallet label. For this, the processor 50 deletes from the box label store all the box labels to which the pointers for the pallet label in the pallet label store 47 point, and deletes that pallet label from the pallet label store. Again, an error is signalled if any of the box label locations did not a pointer to the pallet label.

The various transactions are also recorded in an archive store 48 for later analysis if required.

The details of the structural organization of the database unit 45 can obviously be changed provided that the functions which it (in conjunction with the processor 50) performs remain substantially unchanged.

The processor 50 can monitor the system generally, eg by signalling if a box or pallet undergoes no transaction for an excessive time. It can also, of i course, be used to generate shipping notes, invoices, etc, and to reconcile the movement of boxes and pallets with other management functions.

Claims (11)

Claims:

1. Apparatus for monitoring the processing of boxes and of pallets onto which the boxes are assembled, 5 comprising: box label generation means for generating box labels, each including a unique box identification, for attachment to the boxes; pallet label generation means for generating pallet 10 labels, each including a unique pallet identification, for attachment to the pallets; scanning means for scanning box and pallet labels to generate messages each defining a transaction consisting of the addition of boxes to or the removal of boxes from 15 a pallet; and data processing means comprising database memory means for storing the box and pallet labels and a processor for maintaining associations between box and pallet labels in accordance with the messages from the scanner 20 means.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 including means for generating a batch number and the box label generation means incorporates the batch number into the label.

3. Apparatus according to either previous claim wherein the box label generation means is incorporated in a workstation which contains means for weighing each box passing therethrough and incorporating the weight in the 30 label for the box.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the workstation includes means for entering an identification for each box and the box label generation 35 means incorporates the weight in the label for the box.

5. Apparatus according to either of claims 3 and 4 wherein the workstation includes means for modifying the batch number. 5

6. Apparatus according to any previous claim including means for maintaining a time and/or date value and the box label generation means incorporates the batch number into the label. 10

7. Apparatus according to any previous claim wherein the or each scanner includes a positive and a negative confirmation key for confirming labels which it scans.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the or each 15 scanner is a hand scanner.

9. Apparatus according to any previous claim herein at least one scanner can be used to generate a message indicative of a pallet leaving the system. 20 ' ' ,

10. Apparatus according to any previous claim wherein the database memory means comprises a box label memory I * ’ in which each location has an extension for storing a pointer to a pallet label, and a pallet label memory in 25 which each location has an extension for storing a plurality of pointers to box labels.

11. Apparatus for monitoring the processing of boxes and of pallets onto which the boxes are assembled, 30 substantially as herein described.