Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
7 ~ ~
The invention relates to a process and an instal-
lation for the rearrangement of articles of different
sorts, which are deposited on pallets, each of a specific
sort of article, to form groups of articles of a plurali-
ty of sorts, each deposited on a base.
In the production of articles of mass consumptionof different sorts, for example the production of sweets
and chocolate articles, it is often impossible for
various reasons to obtain a sales-related composition of
the various sorts immediately after production. These
articles are therefore first palletised according to
sorts and later, if appropriate even elsewhere, have to
be rearranged to form groups of a plurality of sorts.
This rearrangement involves a high outlay in terms of
time and labour.
The ob~ect on which the invention i5 based is,
therefore, to provide a process and an installation, by
means of which the said rearrangement can be carried out
reliably and especially efficiently. At the same time,
there will also basically be a guarantee that the com-
position of articles of different sorts can be changed
within a group to be formed, that is to say there will be
the possibility that short-term groups of changed com-
position can be formed, without having to change the
process flow and the fundamental design of the
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installation to be provided.
In process terms, this ob~ect is achieved in that
pallets of the different sorts of articles are fed
continuously to at least one depalletising station, in
that the pallets are depalletised in layers by delivering
the articles to at least one individual conveying means,
in that the articles delivered to the at least one
individual conveying means are transferred to a sort-
conveying means intended for the particular sort of
article and with an associated sort store and are inter-
mediately stored in the latter (that is to say, according
to sorts), in that the intermediately stored articles are
discharged from the sort stores by means of the respec-
tive associated sort-conveying means and fed to at least
one group-forming station, and in that, in the at least
one group-forming station, the articles fed to this are
deposited in the requisite number and necessary sequence
on a base in the desired arrangement within the group to
be formed.
By means of this procedure, it is directly
possible first to depalletise according to sorts articles
which are-supplied according to sorts on pallets, the
depalletised articles being transferred into sort stores,
that is to say being intermediately stored according to
sorts once again. The articles are called up from the
sort stores as needed for the composition of the desired
groups, that is to say in the appropriate number and
sequence, fox example as a result of the actuation of
corresponding control elements. The called-up articles,
previously already located on sort-conveying means
belonging to the respective sort stores, are subsequently
fed to a group-forming station or, if required, even to
a plurality of such ~tations, where the individual
articles supplied for forming a group are deposited on a
base in the desired geometrical arrangement relative to
one another, so that thereafter a finished group of the
desired composition is available. This rearrangement
process can be directly executed continuously and under
automatic control, so that it is necessary, at the-at
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least one depalletising station, to allow only for the
continuous feed of pallets of the different sorts of ar-
ticles and, at the at least one group-forming station, to
allow only for the feed of the bases and the discharge of
the ready-formed groups. This procedure, in general,
makes it possible to arrange a plurality of depalletising
stations parallel to one another; likewise, a plurality
of group-forming stations can be arranged parallel to one
another, so that the efficiency of the process can be
increased virtually as desired and especially matched to
a, where appropriate, very large number of different
sorts of articles. Also, in general, by virtue of the
process structure there is the possibility of changing
over briefly to another type of composition of the groups
lS of articles of different sorts. For this, it is merely
necessary to modify the call-up commands for the sort
stores, in which, moreover, a minimum stock of articles
of the respective sort is always maintained. At the same
time, however, a particular maximum stock will also not
be exceeded.
For the purpose of an intermediate storage truly
according to sorts of the articles supplied in pallet
form, it is necessary to ensure that only pallets of a
specific number of different sorts of articles and only
with articles of the sorts intended for the subsequent
sort stores are fed to each depalletising station.
As a rule, within a pallet layer of articles
supplied these are arranged in a plurality of rows. In
these circumstances, it is recommended, in the region of
the depalletising station, to provide for each row of
articles of a pallet layer its own conveying means or to
discharge the articles of individual rows via separate
conveying means. If there are four parallel rows within
a pallet layer, then four separate conveying means
therefore have to be provided. In an expedient and
advantageous development, these should be operated at a
differing conveying speed. The conveying speeds can
easily be coordinated with one another in such a way that
the depalletised articles do not collide with one
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another. However, the essential purpose of the different
conveying speed of the plurality of conveying means is to
guide the individual articles in such a way that, at the
end of the conveying zone, they can be combined to form
a single conveying stream of articles, specifically into
a so-called close-packed position in which each article
directly follows another. But the different settings of
the conveying speeds, in conjunction with guides to be
provided for forming the single conveying stream and
pushing together the articles of all the conveying means
so that the unitary conveying stream forms, makes it
possible to rotate the articles coming from the indivi-
dual rows about their vertical axis. This is necessary
whenever the articles in the various rows of a pallet
layer are aligned differently in terms of their position
about their vertical axis. The articles, by moving
together during the formation of the single conveying
stream, pass with part of their resting surface onto an
adjacent band; an article resting on two bands simul-
taneously thereby experiences two conveying speeds, withthe result that the article is rotated about its vertical
axis. Thus, all the articles fed in different rows of a
pallet layer and originally possibly in a differing
arrangement in relation to~ their vertical axis are
finally in uniform alignment within the single conveying
stream.
Insofar as the individual pallet layers cannot
shift relative to one another, for example because there
is an anti-slip intermediate layer, depalletisation can
be obtained, for example, by bringing into action on the
front side of the articles facing the individual con-
veying means a lifting device, for example a suction
device, by means of which the articles can be tilted
about their rear lower edge, so that a pure lifting means
can engage under them and transfer them to the following
individual conveying means. Alternatively, however, there
is also the possibility of lifting a complete pallet
layer by applying an overpressure on the underside. The
pallet layer can thus be suspended virtually on an air
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cushion, so that a pure lifting device can then likewise
engage under it and convey it further.
Moreover, expedient developing measures relating
to the process can be seen, at least incidentally, from
the following illustrations of the installation according
to the invention.
In apparatus terms, the set ob~ect mentioned
above is achieved by means of an installation which is
characterized by at least one depalletising station for
the depalletisation of pallets, each with articles of a
single sort of article, in layers and preferably accor-
ding to articles within a layer, at least one individual
conveying means, especially as a band conveyor, behind
each depalletising station, for receiving the depal-
lS letised articles and for transferring them in thedirection of a following sort-conveying means, especially
as a roller conveyor, with its own sort store, and at
least one group-forming station with a group-conveying
means preceding this and likewise especially as a roller
conveyor, for transferring articles from the sort-con-
veying means to the group-forming station.
As already mentioned above in conjunction with
the process according to the invention, by means of an
installation so designed the sought-after rearrangement
of articles palletised according to sorts to form groups
of specific sort composition can be carried out without
difficulty. This installation can be operated automati-
cally and continuously with the use of conventional
control elements and control devices, so that the desired
rearrangement can be executed in a highly efficient way.
It is merely necessary to ensure the continuous feed of
pallets with articles palletised according to sorts and
the discharge of the formed groups, together with their
bases, including the feed of the bases. Moreover, it is
possible at any time to change the rearrangement over
from one composition of the groups to another group
composition, without having to con~ert the installation
as a whole in any way; for this, it is merely necessary
to take action on the obviously associated control unit,
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so that there is a different call-up of articles from the
sort stores and therefore to the group-forming stations
in accordance with the changed composition.
In an expedient development, there should be the
S provision that each depalletising station be followed by
as many individual conveying means parallel to one
another as there are rows of articles lying next to one
another within a pallet layer transversely relative to
the individual conveying means. Such a design affords
special advantages, particularly when articles are
deposited in a differing arrangement relative to the
vertical axis of the articles. Indeed, this design then
at the same time allows the plurality of individual con-
veying means to operate at different conveying speeds,
lS in such a way that the depalletised articles received by
the plurality of individual conveying means can be
conveyed further, without colliding with one another, on
the one hand, and all the articles can have an identical
alignment in relation to their respective vertical axis,
on the other hand. Such an identical alignment of all the
articles makes easier their intermediate storage in the
following sort stores and moreover also their further
transport.
To simplify the feed of the depalletised articles
to the sort conveyors, it is expedient, in another
development, if the plurality of individual conveying
means, in the region of the end of their conveying zone~
are arranged together between two lateral guides which
are located in the conveying region of the articles and
the mutual spacing of which is reduced continuously to
the transport width of the articles. Thus, a single
conveying stream of uniform width can form and consi-
derably simplifies the feed to the sort stores and the
intermediate storage located there. Moreover, the com-
bination to form a single conveying stream affords thepossibility, by means of a following single multiple
conveyor switch, of feeding the conveying stream now to
one sort store and now to the other, each time according
to the sort just depalletised.
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In a development, various alternative designs are
provided for depalletisation, the simplest of these
certainly being a slide to be provided at each depal-
letising station and intended for pushing a pallet layer
down onto the following individual conveying means. If
such a pushing down is impossible, for example because
there is an anti-slip underlay between the individual
pallet layers, the articles of the various pallet layers
have to be raised. This can be carried out, for example,
by means of a suction device, especially a suction device
acting on the individual articles on two sides. On the
other hand, however, just as appropriate is a suction
device which acts on only a single face of the articles
and by means of which the articles are then first to be
raised on the front side, so that a lifting appliance,
such as, for example, a lifting fork, can be introduced
under an article, in order then ~o raise it as a whole
and transfer it to the following individual conveying
means. A further alternative involves providing a com-
pressed-air device, via which compressed air can be
conveyed onto the underside of the articles to be pal-
letised especially onto the underside of a complete
pallet layer to such an extent that the articles or the
pallet layer can be lifted as a whole, for example
particularly by means of a lifting fork once again.
The invention is explained in detail below by
means of an exemplary embodiment of the installation
according to the invention, with reference to the
drawings; in these:0 Figure 1 shows a top view of an installation according
to the invention with three depalletising
stations, each with three following sort
stores, and with four group-forming stations,
Figure 2 shows part of the installation of Figure 1,5 Figure 3 shows another part of the installation of
Figure 1,
Figure 4 shows an enlarged representation of a depal-
letising station with four following individual
conveying means,
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Figure S shows the part of Figure 2 in a diagrammatic
side view from the direction of the arrow A,
Figure 6 shows the left-hand part of the installation
according to Figure 1 in a diagrammatic side
view from the direction of the arrow B,
Figure 7 shows the right-hand part of the installation
according to Figure 2 in a diagrammatic side
view from the direction of the arrow B,
Figure 8 shows a front view of a sort store,
Figure 9 shows the conveying means for the bases in a
diagrammatic side view from the direction of
the arrow C, and
Figure 10 shows a branch-off conveyor for the bases in a
diagrammatic side view from the direction of
the arrow D.
Figure 1 shows a general representation of an
installation according to the invention with three
depalletising stations lO, 11 and 12 and four group-
forming stations 13 to 16. Each of the depalletising
stations 10, 11 and 12 is followed by a multiple conveyor
17, 18 and 19 as an individual conveying means. These
multiple conveyors 17 to 19 each lead to three sort
conveyors 2Q to 22 and 23 to 25 and 26 to 28 which
themselves each lead to a sort store 29 to 37 and through
these into the region of four group-conveying means 38 to
41. In view of the four group-forming stations 13 to 16,
four group-conveying means 38 to 41 are provided, that is
to say one group-conveying means for each group-forming
station.
Figure 4 illustrates in more detail a depalleti-
sing station with an associated multiple conveyor, that
is to say, for example, the depalletising station 10 and
the associated multiple conveyor 17. A pallet loaded with
articles 42 is introduced into the depalletising station
10 and is to be depalletised via four parallel conveyor
bands 43 to 46 of the multiple conveyor 17. In the
embodiment illustrated, for depalletisation there is a
slide 47 movable to and fro which is arranged behind the
pallet and by means of which the individual articles 42
~Q ~ ~7~7
g
can be pushed off onto the conveying means 43 to 46
designed as band conveyors. Figure 4 shows already
different articles 42 as lying on the conveyor bands 43
to 46; it is evident from this illustration how, for
example, an article 42 running on the conveyor band 46
and entering the region of contraction between two
lateral guides 48 and 49 is pivoted about its vertical
axis during further movement, so that it finally assumes
the position which can be seen at the end of the con-
veying zone of the conveyor bands 43 to 46.
; The two lateral guides 48 and 49 are arranged at
their origin at such a distance from one another that all
the conveyor bands 43 to 46 can run through under their
catchment region, whilst at the other end of the two
lateral guides 47 and 48 the distance between them isnarrowed approximately to the transport width of the
articles 42.
The conveyor bands 43 to 46 run at associated
band speeds V1 to V4; the slide 47 is actuated at a speed
Vs.
Assuming, for example, an article length of
225 mm and a desired output of the installation of 24 to
28 groups to be formed per minute, and further assuming
the use of three depalletising stations and idle times
for the return movement of the slide into the initial
position of 0.5 seconds, for the pivoting away of an
intermediate layer between the pallet layers of
2 seconds, for the backward pivoting of gripper arms of
2 seconds and for the build-up of an air cushion for
raising the pallet layers of O.S seconds, that is to say
a total idle time of 5 seconds, the following results are
obtained. 90 articles can be unloaded ~rom, for example,
four layers within 60 seconds - 4 x 5 seconds
= 40 seconds. 10 seconds are therefore available for
unloading a layer of 1200 mm, so that Vs is obtained as
0.12 m/s.
A problem to be borne in mind is as follows: the
two outer articles, namely those on the conveyor bands 43
and 46, must, until the inner articles, namely those on
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the two conveyor bands 44 and 4S, are grasped by their
associated conveyor bands, be advanced until they are no
longer overtaken by the inner articles.
Vs = 120 mm/s corresponds to 37 mm in approximately
0.3 s.
Conveyor band 43 (slowest conveyor band):
0.3 s results in 1800 mm/s on the assumption of a con-
veying zone of 600 mm.
Conveyor band 44 must have in relation to the conveyor
band 43 a conveying-distance lead of 300 mm with a
conveying zone of the conveyor band 43 of 2400 mm.
Conveyor band 44:
Conveyor band 43 covers a distance of 2400 mm in 1.33 s,
whilst conveyor band 44 covers a distance of 2700 mm in
the same time. This means that the conveyor band 44 runs
at V2 equal to 2025 mm/s.
Conveyor band 45:
2700 mm (conveyor band 44) and 300 mm, that is to say a
total of 3000 mm, must be covered in 1.33 s. This means
that the conveyor band 43 runs at V3 = 2300 mm/s.
Conveyor band 46:
This conveyor band runs at Vs = 2075 mm/s.
Figure 5 shows the part of Figure 2 in a diagram-
matic side view from the direction of the arrow A. The
merely diagrammatically illustrated depalletising station
10 with its slide 47 movable to and fro can be seen
clearly. Of course, the pallet has to be raised after
each pallet layer has been depalletised; this is indi-
cated by means of the arrow E. The multiple conveyor 17
which, according to the representation of Figure 4,
consists of four individual conveyors 43 to 46, can also
be seen. The merely diagrammatic representation of Figure
2 gives the impression that there are only three in-
dividual conveyors; in actual fact, however, four in-
dividual conveyors are provided in view of the four rows
of each pallet layer which can be seen lying next to one
another. The multiple conveyor 17 merges, via a conveyor
switch 50 not visible in Figure 5, but shown diagrammati-
cally in Figure 2, into the sort conveyors 20 to 22, of
which only the sort conveyor 20 can be seen in Figure S.
At the end of the sort conveyor 20, particularly imme-
diately in front of the associated sort store 29, thereis a barrier Sl. This barrier 51 serves, via the sort
conveyor 20 designed as a roller zone, to obstruct
articles fed to the sort store 29, at the entrance to the
sort store 29, as long as the latter is prevented from
the instantaneous reception of articles 42 as a result of
a lifting or lowering movement in the direction of the
arrow F. Within the sort store 29, the sort conveyor 20
continues as a rotating conveyor band 20a, via which the
articles 42 fed after the removal of the barrier 51 can
be introduced into the sort store 29. A barrier 52 is
also provided at the end of the conveying zone of the
conveyor band 20a located within the sort store 29. This
barrier 52 serves for stopping the fed articles 42 from
coming out of the sort store 29. The sort store 29 is
designed as a rack-type store and is described in more
detail further below with reference to Figure 8. After
the sort store 29, the sort conveyor 20 continues as a
further rotary conveyor 2Ob, here too a barrier 53 being
provided at the end of the conveying zone. This barrier
53 serves for preventing articles 42 located on the
rotary conveyor 20b from running further in the direction
of the group conveyors 39 to 41 which are each assigned
to one of the group-forming stations 13 to 16.
Figures 6 and 7 together show a view of the
entire installation of Figure l from the direction of the
arrow B. The sort stores 29 to 31, 32 to 34 and 35 to 37
assigned respectively to the depalletising stations 10 to
12 can be seen clearly here. The group conveyors 38 to 41
assigned to all the sort stores 29 to 37 and designed as
roller conveyors can also be seen. These group conveyors
38 to 41 serve for receiving the number of articles 42 of
the various sorts which is necessary for forming a group,
that is to say articles from the particular relevant sort
stores 29 to 37. The release of articles 42 from the sort
- 12 - 2~
stores 29 to 37 takes place under the effect of an
appropriate control unit so that, with the sequence
necessary for group formation being maintained, the
requisite number of articles 42 of the various sorts is
released from the sort stores 29 to 37, in such a way
that, at the latest after the last sort store 37, all the
individual articles 42 necessary for forming a group rest
in a so-called close-packed position on one of the group
conveyors 38 to 41, specifically that of the group
conveyors 38 to 41 leading to that group-forming station
13 to 16 in which the particular relevant group is later
to be formed. For releasing to the group conveyors 38 to
41 the articles which are to be called up from the
individual sort stores 29 to 37, there are conveyor
switches 54 to 62 which are provided at the end of the
rotary conveyor 20b evident in Figure 5 and constituting
a continuation of the sort conveyor 20 and which can be
seen in Figure 1. These conveyor switches 54 to 62 can be
produced in such a way that the respective associated
rotary conveyor, that is to say, for example, the rotary
conveyor 20b for the sort store 29, is vertically pivota-
ble.
Finally, Figure 7 shows, in the right-hand part,
a group-forming station, for example the group-forming
station 13. At each of the group-forming stations 13 to
16, in the way shown there is a lifting and pivoting unit
63 serving receiving and depositing purposes and with a
pivoting arm 64 movable up and down for grasping a fed
article 42 from a supply region 65 and for depositing it
on a base 66 of a group of articles 42 to be formed. The
group formation takes place at the same time in the
position in which a pallet is built up from finished
groups. This means that pallet formation takes place as
it were in layers by composing a group on the preceding
one. The bases 66 are brought into the working region via
a branch-off conveyor 67. The bases 66 are fed to the
branch-off conveyor 67 via the base conveyor 68 clearly
evident in Figure 3.
As can be seen especially in Figure 3, but
- 13 - 7~37~
moreover also in Figure 7, the bases 66, in their central
region, possess an elevation 69, on which barriers 70
provided on the base conveyor 68 take action during the
transport of the bases 66 on the latter, in order to
control the transport of the bases 66 on the base con-
veyor 68 and the transfer to the branch-off conveyor 67.
The sort store 29 shown in Figure 8 in a view
from the direction of the arrow B of Figure 2 reveals, in
the lower part, the rotary conveyor 20a, evident from
Figure 5, which forms the continuation of the sort
sonveyor 20 and which is a fundamental integral part of
the sort conveyor as a whole. All the sort stores 29 to
37 are designed in the same way as the sort store 29 as
rack-type stores and for this purpose possess two rotary
mechanisms 71 with a plurality of drivers 72. These
drivers 72 serve for receiving articles 42 from the
rotary conveyor 20a and, arranged at an appropriate
height within the sort store 29, for forming intermediate
storage racks. The articles 42 received in the racks can
be brought further upwards as a result of an appropriate
movement of the rotary mechanisms 71 of the sort store 29
or downwards as a result of a movement in the opposite
direction, in order finally to deposit articles 42 once
again on the rotary conveyor 20a which moreover at the
same time forms a run-through rack of the sort store 29.
Figure 9 shows a part view of the base conveyor
68 from the direction of the arrow C of Figure 3. This is
designed as a roller-conveyor track and serves for
feeding the baces 66 equipped with a central elevation 69
to the individual group-forming stations 13 to 16. In the
region of each group-forming station 13 to 16, there is
a branch-off conveyor 67 which takes over the bases 66
from the base conveyor 68. For controlling the correctly
timed take-over of the bases 66 from the base conveyor 68
by the branch-off conveyor 67, there are, on the one
hand, the barriers 70 already shown in Figure 3 and, on
the other hand, further barriers 73. Thus, the barriers
73 constitute a stop against the further running of a
base 66 beyond the junction of the branch-off conveyor
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67, whilst the barriers 70 constitute a barrier against
the further transport of bases 66 to one of the branch-
off conveyors 67. The branch-off conveyors 67 are appro-
priately designed as toothed-belt conveyors, the toothed
belts not shown in detail being guided via rotating
rollers.
Figure 10 shows a portion of a branch-off con-
veyor 67 from the direction of the arrow D of Figure 3.
There can be seen, at the same time, the toothed belts
which have already been mentioned in conjunction with
Figure 9 and which, guided via deflecting rollers, form
the branch-off conveyor 67. In the way shown, the bases
66 are guided by means of the branch-off conveyor 67 up
against a stop 74 provided at the end of the latter. The
particular base 66 bearing against the stop is grasped by
means of a lifting and pivoting unit 75 evident from
Figure 3 and serving transfer purposes, is lifted off
from the branch-off conveyor 67 and is deposited in the
pallet- or group-forming region 76 which can be seen in
Figure 3 and in Figure 7.
