Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H7/00—Controlling article feeding, separating, pile-advancing, or associated apparatus, to take account of incorrect feeding, absence of articles, or presence of faulty articles
  • B65H7/02—Controlling article feeding, separating, pile-advancing, or associated apparatus, to take account of incorrect feeding, absence of articles, or presence of faulty articles by feelers or detectors
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2511/00—Dimensions; Position; Numbers; Identification; Occurrences
  • B65H2511/20—Location in space
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2511/00—Dimensions; Position; Numbers; Identification; Occurrences
  • B65H2511/20—Location in space
  • B65H2511/21—Angle
  • B65H2511/216—Orientation, e.g. with respect to direction of movement
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2511/00—Dimensions; Position; Numbers; Identification; Occurrences
  • B65H2511/50—Occurence
  • B65H2511/51—Presence
  • B65H2511/512—Marks, e.g. invisible to the human eye; Patterns
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2511/00—Dimensions; Position; Numbers; Identification; Occurrences
  • B65H2511/50—Occurence
  • B65H2511/51—Presence
  • B65H2511/514—Particular portion of element
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2553/00—Sensing or detecting means
  • B65H2553/10—Sensing or detecting means using fluids, e.g. pneumatics

Definitions

• the invention finds specific but not exclusive use in the field of packaging lines, where flat cardboard sheets are fed into a box-forming machine.
• the cardboard sheets must be loaded in the magazine in the right orientation.
• the orientation of the stacks on the pallet must be known, so that the stacks can be automatically transferred to the magazine of the box-forming machine facing in the right direction.
• This problem is complicated by the fact that in the pallets the layers of stacks of sheets are arranged cross-wise one to another, thus alternating; this is to guarantee stability of the layers of stacks on the pallet.
• the possibility of incorrect positioning of the stacks on the pallet also has to be taken into account.
• the prior art teaches a device for identifying the orientation of the various stacks on the pallet; this device consists of optical devices which however have some drawbacks.
• the optical devices used are especially delicate, which makes their installation on a mobile arm of the gripping device complicated.
• Other drawbacks are connected to high cost and difficulty of maintenance.
• the main aim of the present invention is to obviate the above-cited drawbacks and limitations in the prior art, by providing an extremely simple and reliable identification system.
• An advantage of the invention is that it provides an identification device, constructionally simple and economical, easily associable to a mobile arm of a gripper device predisposed for lifting cardboard sheets.
• a further advantage of the invention is that it provides a recognition system which is not influenced by the colour of the sheets or any environmental factor.
• figure 1 is a lateral view in vertical elevation of a loading pallet containing various layers of stacks of cardboard sheets, to which a sensor (schematically illustrated) is applied, which operates according to the present invention
• figure 2 is a view from above of figure 1
• figure 3 shows the various positions which a cardboard sheet loaded in a corner of a pallet might assume. Disclosure of Invention With reference to the figures of the drawings, 1 denotes a loading pallet which brings the stacks of cardboard sheets 2, folded flat and arranged one on top of another.
• Each stack 2 is composed of a certain number of flat sheets (e.g. 20 or 25). To enable the sheet to be formed into a box, it exhibits two slots 3 located facing upwards, and two slots 3 located facing downwards. Each slot separates two folds of the sheets arranged adjacent in the flat configuration. To recognise the orientation of a sheet, advantage is taken of the presence of the two upwards- facing slots 3, which are in view.
• the layers are composed of four stacks of cardboard sheets 2, arranged crosswise as shown in figure 2. Other arrangements can be used, however, as well as a different number of stacks.
• the stacks 2 loaded on the pallet 1 are destined to be removed one by one by a gripper device (of known type and not illustrated) which transfers them inside a magazine of a box-forming machine (for example such as the machine described in WO 99/08864) which then opens out the flattened sheets, which is the beginning of a packaging line which will use the constructed boxes for packaging articles.
• the gripper device is accompanied by a device for detecting the orientation of the stacks of cardboard sheets loaded on the pallet, which device comprises a sensor 4 able to distinguish between presence of material and absence of material in an object.
• the sensor 4 is a pneumatic-type reflection sensor, of known type and illustrated only schematically.
• the sensor 4 is provided with known and not-illustrated means for moving the sensor 4 over the upper surface (in view) of the cardboard sheet, in a predetermined path indicated by P.
• the sensor 4 can emit a signal (pneumatic) when it passes over a slot 3 in the sheet.
• the pneumatic signal is transformed into an electrical signal which is sent on to a command and control unit of the gripper device.
• the command and control unit recognises the position of the slot and thus the orientation of the cardboard sheet to be gripped, and consequently instructs the gripper device to activate in such a way that the cardboard sheet is positioned in the box-forming machine magazine with a correct orientation. Note that the position of the slots 3 firmly and unequivocally identifies the orientation of the cardboard sheet.
• the possible orientations of a sheet located in one of the corners of a pallet are four.
• figure 3 shows these four positions: a different position of the upward-facing slots in a sheet 3 identifies a different orientation of the sheet 3.
• the possible different orientations can be four.
• the position of the slots may vary according to the shape of the cardboard sheet used. In all cases the position of the slots can serve to indicate unequivocally the orientation of the sheets.
• the senor 4 is arranged above the stack of cardboard sheets and is operatively associated with the upper surface of the sheets at the top of the stack.
• the sensor 4 is commanded to perform an inspection of the top sheet following a path P which is in fact an arc.
• the path P is designed to reveal the location of a slot 3 in the sheet.
• the path P in fact will cover all four possible positions of a slot 3 in a sheet located in a corner of a pallet.
• the path P of the sensor is indicated by a broken line in figure 2.
• the path of the sensor 4 can be different from what is indicated herein.
• the sensor 4 can also reveal the border 5 of one cardboard sheet, to determine where one sheet ends and an adjacent one begins, if there is a space between the sheets.
• recognition of where one sheets starts and another ends is not alone sufficient to unequivocally identify the orientation of a sheet.
• the recognition device can be applied also to cardboard sheets having no slots, by an identification of the position of the edge of the sheet, if the perimeter of the sheet is of such a shape that identification of the position of the edge of the sheet is sufficient to recognise the orientation of the sheet.
• to recognise the orientation of a cardboard sheet it is sufficient to identify the position of the upwards-facing slots 3.

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• Circuit Arrangement For Electric Light Sources In General (AREA)
• Making Paper Articles (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=11450685

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Cited By (1)

Citations (6)

• 2001
  • 2001-02-06 IT IT2001MO000016A patent/ITMO20010016A1/it unknown
  • 2001-07-16 WO PCT/IT2001/000374 patent/WO2002062689A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (6)

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