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
  • B65G61/00—Use of pick-up or transfer devices or of manipulators for stacking or de-stacking articles not otherwise provided for

Definitions

• the invention relates to a device for palletizing and / or sorting piece goods of different sizes and in any order and in any mixing ratio on transport and / or storage units according to the preamble of claim 1.
• the stacking of piece goods which can have a weight of up to 20 kg and more, for example in the case of parcels, is particularly when a stack with a height of more than one meter is to be formed, as is the case, for example, with so-called standard -Roll containers is a very strenuous activity that is currently carried out by hand in most distribution and distribution centers.
• a buffer is used in the form of a band divided into compartments and rotating in one direction; In each compartment of this volume there is a package of any size that is known. Since the size of the packages is generally not known, in particular in the case of order-specific and thus individually picked loading units, a camera system is provided in this known device which recognizes the size of each package placed in a compartment of the belt and the dimensions for evaluation and control unit, for example passes on a commercially available computer. This computer calculates a "stacking arrangement that is as" optimal as possible "from the packet sizes in the intermediate storage. In accordance with the stack arrangement generated by the computer, the packages are then removed by an industrial robot mounted on a rail system and placed, for example, in standard roll containers.
• Buffer size of 45 packets in other words, one
• Buffer size of more than 80% of the total commission - only a filling level of 44.3% is achieved if the
• Package sizes differ greatly, or a degree of filling of
• the known device works with a belt provided with rigid compartments and rotating in one direction; the industrial robot can also be moved on rails. Since the belt can only run in one direction, it takes a relatively long time, especially at the beginning, ie when the buffer has been fully loaded but has not yet been removed, in order to firstly package the package provided by the control and evaluation unit into the Bring work area of the industrial robot, and on the other hand to transfer a free compartment in the area of a loading unit, which places another piece of goods in the freed compartment. Furthermore, the company Prolog System GmbH, 6380 Bad Homburg, offers a computer program with which the loading of both pure-type stacks and order-related product mix pallets can be calculated, the actual loading "of Hand "according to the calculated loading or storage plan.
• the invention has for its object to provide a device for the automatic palletizing and / or sorting piece goods of different sizes, which arrive in any, unknown order and in any, unknown mixture ratio that the best possible filling of the transport and / or storage units can be achieved in the shortest possible time without manual stacking processes.
• the invention is based on the basic idea that - in order to achieve short palletizing times - the intermediate store, which accommodates piece goods to be palletized, must have short loading and unloading times.
• the intermediate store is “not too large”, since it can take a long time, especially in parcel distribution centers or at mail order companies, to arrive at a larger number of parcels that are palletized in a transport unit should.
• the use of a large "buffer" leads to additional space requirements and higher costs.
• a conveyor belt which can be moved in two directions is chosen as the intermediate store, on which the individual piece goods are not arranged in fixed places or boxes.
• the base area of such boxes would have to be chosen so that each box also has space for the largest type of general cargo to be stacked.
• the individual piece goods are arranged in at least one row in any arrangement on the conveyor belt which can be moved in two directions.
• the evaluation and control unit which can be, for example, a conventional computer with appropriate peripherals, also records the arrangement on the conveyor belt in addition to the shape and dimensions of the individual piece goods.
• a dynamic buffer is used according to the invention, which is designed according to the size of the piece goods.
• the conveyor belt with the fixed handling and positioning unit it is possible to move the conveyor belt with the fixed handling and positioning unit in a short time in such a way that the piece goods can be removed from the conveyor belt in random access at predetermined locations.
• the handling and positioning unit for example an industrial robot, positions the removed piece goods on the transport and / or storage unit to move the conveyor belt in such a way that a new piece goods on one Loading parts can be transferred to the conveyor belt.
• the inventive design of the buffer memory enables the implementation of a further basic idea according to the invention:
• the maximum number of piece goods that can be accommodated by the intermediate store is selected such that the sum of their base areas is less than three times the usable base area of the transport and / or storage unit.
• the sum of the bases of said stored unit loads is even more than sufficient t equal to the usable surface area of the transport and assembly; In other words, this means that with a pallet which is generally equipped with 10 or more layers, less intermediate goods are present in the intermediate store than is required for filling a single layer, and that a good degree of filling is nevertheless achieved.
• the degree of filling can be increased significantly with automatic loading of a pallet if, unlike known devices, no towers are built from the same piece goods, but if an attempt is made to arrange the piece goods in such a way that they are as large as possible form coherent flat surfaces.
• the device according to the invention works in such a way that at the beginning of the palletizing process the piece goods located in the intermediate store with the largest base area or the piece goods of the same height, which together take up the largest base area, are arranged in a corner of the transport and / or storage unit .
• similar piece goods would be stacked one above the other to form a tower.
• the piece goods or piece goods of different, but the same height, which alone or together take up the next largest base area, are then arranged in the opposite corner of the transport and storage unit.
• the procedure is such that the piece goods are stacked in such a way that the largest possible contiguous flat horizontal surfaces result (claim 12).
• more than one storage space is free at any time on the conveyor belt, so that the conveyor belt for loading only has to be moved over short distances, while in claim 5 it is characterized in that a storage space freed up by removal of a piece good without a process the conveyor belt can be refilled.
• a loading unit which loads the piece goods onto the conveyor belt, since this results in complete automation and thus an automatically operating palletizing cell.
• This loading unit which, according to claim 7, can load the piece goods into a space specified by the evaluation and control unit, from which, for example, the further processing can take place particularly quickly, can in particular have a slide (claim 8), which is one of a feed unit , for example, a piece of material fed to a further conveyor belt onto the conveyor belt serving as a buffer pushes.
• a slide can work in particular "parallel" to the handling device, so that both the time expenditure and the travel distances are minimized.
• the detection system which detects the dimensions of the piece goods supplied to the intermediate store, can have, for example, a video camera or a light barrier sensor constructed in a manner known per se, which detects the dimensions of the incoming piece goods via a downstream image processing device.
• an identification code that is to say, for example, a barcode
• a reading device for example a well-known barcode reader reads.
• other identification systems such as systems based on ultrasound, infrared or slides with an integrated measuring system, can also be used.
• FIG. 4a to d equipped with a device according to the invention.
• Fig. 1 shows schematically an exemplary embodiment of a device according to the invention for palletizing and / or sorting piece goods 1 of different sizes, which in any order and in any mixing ratio of a feed unit, for example a belt conveyor 2 with a separating device 3 in the direction of a Arrow 4 are delivered.
• the piece goods 1 are conveyed from the belt conveyor 2 by a slide 5 transferred to a buffer store 6, in which the piece goods to be palletized are temporarily stored.
• the intermediate store 6 is a conveyor belt which can be moved in two directions (double arrow), on which the individual piece goods 1 are arranged in at least one row in any arrangement without a fixed allocation of space (cf. also FIGS. 2 and 3),
• a detection system 7 which detects the shape and dimensions of the individual piece goods, and which can have, for example, a corresponding light barrier system or a video camera.
• a multi-axis handling and positioning unit 8 which is only shown schematically with its working space 9, and which can be, for example, a commercially available industrial robot, grips the piece goods 1 stored in the intermediate store 6 and places them on an evaluation device (not shown in more detail). and control unit predefined location on a transport and / or storage unit 10, which can be, for example, a Euro pallet, and which is arranged in the work space 9 of the industrial robot 8.
• FIGS. 2a to 2c show a first exemplary embodiment of a buffer store 6.
• the buffer store is designed as a conveyor belt which can be moved in two directions and has a removal point 11 for the piece goods 1.
• the usable buffer area 12 is also shown on the belt.
• the band is shown in the end position on the left, in part figure b in the middle position and in part figure c in the end position on the right.
• 3a to 3c show a second exemplary embodiment of a buffer store 6.
• the buffer store is again designed as a conveyor belt that can be moved in two directions. In contrast to the first exemplary embodiment, however, two removal parts 11 'and 11 "are provided for the piece goods 1.
• the belt is thus, for example, a common intermediate store for two palletizing devices, each with an industrial robot, or an intermediate store for one Speed increase with two industrial robots working palletizing device can be used in part figure a, the belt in the end position on the left, in part figure b in the middle position and in part figure c in the end position on the right.
• Both exemplary embodiments have in common that the piece goods 1 are not deposited on the conveyor belt 6 at fixed predetermined locations, but rather at any steep point.
• the evaluation and control unit additionally detects the exact location of the piece goods on the conveyor belt, and moves the conveyor belt in such a way that the piece goods are removed from the conveyor belt at predetermined locations with random access.
• 4a and 4b show an equipped pallet in front and rear view, which has been equipped with 23 types of packages, the size of which is not graded according to DIN, but chosen arbitrarily, and with a buffer size of 6 packages.
• the degree of filling achieved is 56%.
• 4c and 4d show an assembled pallet in front and rear view, which has been equipped with 7 types of packages and with a buffer size of 6 packages.
• the degree of filling achieved is 78%.
• the procedure was such that at the beginning of the palletizing process, the evaluation and control unit in the piece goods located in the intermediate store with the largest base area or the piece goods of the same height, which together take up the largest base area, in arranges a corner of the transport and storage unit. Subsequently, the evaluation and control unit arranges the piece goods or the piece goods deviating but of the same height, which alone or together take up the next largest base area, in the opposite corner of the transport and storage unit. The evaluation and control unit stacks the following piece goods on the base of the transport and storage unit as well as on the surface of piece goods already palletized in such a way that coherent surfaces result while largely avoiding isolated "towers".

Landscapes

• Stacking Of Articles And Auxiliary Devices (AREA)
• Warehouses Or Storage Devices (AREA)
• Discharge Of Articles From Conveyors (AREA)
• Control Of Conveyors (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=6412635

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (18)

Citations (3)

• 1990
  • 1990-08-21 DE DE4026449A patent/DE4026449A1/de active Granted
• 1991
  • 1991-08-21 DE DE59101950T patent/DE59101950D1/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1991-08-21 WO PCT/DE1991/000661 patent/WO1992003365A1/de active IP Right Grant
  • 1991-08-21 EP EP91914808A patent/EP0544733B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1991-08-21 AT AT91914808T patent/ATE107261T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (3)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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