Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
Title: Automatic case packing equipment for stand-up pouches
Field of the invention
The invention relates to automated equipment and processes to place into a
case, such as a
cardboard box, stand-up pouches into the upright configuration. The invention
can be used to
provide retail-ready packaging where the case can be opened and placed on a
shelf of a retail
store and a consumer can directly pick up the pouch from the case.
Background
For many years, attempts have been made to develop improved systems for
picking up individual
articles from a conveyor system and depositing those articles within a
container, such as a
corrugated cardboard box. The desire is to accomplish this task with speed and
accuracy. To meet
the demand for speed, past solutions have used multiple robots along the
conveyor, such as
described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,063. Often, if four such robot heads are
used, each head picks up
every fourth article on the conveyor system in a staggered manner so that the
four robot heads
effectively remove four consecutive articles during each cycle. While this
multiplicity of heads
increases the packing speed, the means for moving the robot heads from the
conveyor system
to the container may be awkward or cumbersome to implement.
To provide greater flexibility, multi-axis robots have been developed for
picking an article off of
a common conveyor. Many such multi-axis robots, however, have proven to be
fairly slow and
heavy. Hence, while such robots may provide greater flexibility in motion,
they have also
provided a need for an even greater number of robots to meet the speed
requirements in the
marketplace today. Additionally, it has been found that with some three-axis
robots, the range
of movement may be limited in certain directions. For example, certain three-
axis robots are very
limited in their vertical component, which can make movement of an article
from a conveyor into
a deep container difficult to perform.
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Date Recue/Date Received 2021-03-23
To provide even greater flexibility, multi-axis robots as disclosed in U.S.
Pat. No. 7,644,558 and
U.S. Pat. No. 8,997,438, can be used for picking an article off of a common
conveyor and placing
the article in a container. The multi-axis robot can provide the desired speed
of operation with
the desired range of movement and can accurately pick articles from the
conveying system and
place them into containers.
Even with the improvements made so far in case packing, operators are
continually striving for
faster and more efficient systems for packing articles from a conveyor into
containers. Operators
are also striving to implement these systems in a manner that meets "shelf-
ready packaging"
(SRP) or "retail-ready packaging" (RRP) requirements. SRP and RRP generally
refer to the
preparation of a product that is delivered to a retailer in a ready-to-self
merchandised unit.
For example, SRP and RRP products can be easily placed on a shelf without the
need for
unpacking or repacking. In that regard, SRP and RRP products may be packaged
in containers that
allow the container to be shipped, stacked, and opened on a pallet in a manner
that allows the
product to be displayed in the opened container in an isle on the floor of a
retail outlet. For
example, SRP and RRP products may be packaged in a container in an upright or
vertical position,
aligned in one or more rows within the container, such that the product brand
or name, and/or
contents, can be seen while the product remains in the container.
Summary of the invention
A system for packing a case with articles, the system including a conveying
device to convey
articles to be packed, in a serial configuration and a support for a case to
be packed with the
articles in which the articles are configured to be placed in a plurality of
rows, including a first
row, optionally a second row adjacent to the first row and a last row adjacent
to a side wall of
the case. A robotic mechanism is provided configured to pick-up a batch of
articles from the
conveying device and to deposit the batch of articles into the case, the
robotic mechanism
including an article supporting device moveable between an extended position
and a retracted
position, the robotic mechanism being configured to execute a first and a
second article loading
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cycle in the case, wherein the first article loading cycle is characterized by
lowering a batch of
articles in the case and retracting the article supporting device to allow the
batch of articles to sit
on a bottom of the case and the second article loading cycle is characterized
by retracting the
article supporting device while the batch of articles is at a distance from
the bottom of the case
and allowing the batch of articles to fall in the case while being guided by
an adjacent row of
articles already deposited in the case and the side wall of the case.
A method for packing a case with articles, the method comprising, conveying
articles to be
packed, in a serial configuration, supporting a case to be packed with the
articles in which the
articles are configured to be placed in a plurality of rows, including a first
row and a last row
adjacent to a side wall of the case, picking-up a batch of articles from the
conveying device and
depositing the batch of articles into the case with a robotic mechanism
including an article
supporting device moveable between an extended position and a retracted
position, the robotic
mechanism being configured to execute a first and a second article loading
cycle in the case,
wherein:
i. the first article loading cycle being characterized by lowering a batch of
articles in the case and retracting the article supporting device to allow the
batch of articles to sit on a bottom of the case;
ii. a second article loading cycle characterized by retracting the article
supporting device while the batch of articles is at a distance from the
bottom of the case and allowing the batch of articles to fall in the case
while being guided by an adjacent row of articles already deposited in the
case and the side wall of the case.
Brief description of the drawings
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a robotic cell for packing pouches in a
stand-up configuration in
a case;
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Date Recue/Date Received 2021-03-23
Figure 2 is perspective view from above of a plurality of stand-up pouches
between cleats of a
cleats conveyor;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of a positioning conveyor used with the robotic
cell in Figure 1 to
provide a supply of stand-up pouches to the cleats conveyor of the robotic
cell;
Figure 4 is perspective view of the cleats conveyor;
Figure 5 is a schematical view of packaging case, such as a carboard box,
showing the
arrangement of stand-up pouches achieved with the robotic cell of Figure 1;
Figure 6, 7 and 9 are perspective views of the robotic arm tool to pick-up
multiple stand-up
pouches from the cleats conveyor and deposit them in the packaging case as per
the arrangement
shown in Figure 5;
Figure 8 is an elevational view of the robotic arm tool shown in Figures 6, 7
and 8;
Figure 10 is a block diagram showing the components of a computerized control
system for
operating the robotic cell of Figure 1.
Description of an example of implementation of the invention
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a robotic cell having an arrangement of
components to
automatically load a case, such as a carboard box with stand-up pouches
according to a
predetermined arrangement.
A stand-up pouch is shown at 10 Figure 2. The stand-up pouch 10 has side walls
joined at an
upper edge and a bottom portion that is configured to form a base on which the
pouch can stand
in the upright position. Typically, the base would be wide enough to provide a
stable platform
such that the pouch can remain in the upright position. In contrast, the upper
end of the pouch
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can be significantly narrower than the base and can be formed by crimping the
side walls at their
upped ends or securing them with a releasable fastening mechanism, such that
the pouch can be
opened to gain access to the contents and then re-closed. This arrangement is
useful for food
products, where re-closing the pouch allows to keep the product fresh longer.
Stand-up pouches are popular in the food retail industry to market granular or
particulate
products, such as rice, cheese bits and flour among many other products.
Referring back to Figure 1, the robotic cell 12 has a frame 14 which forms a
module allowing to
integrate the various component of the apparatus into a single unit that can
be placed at the
desired location in a packaging plant and moved around if necessary, such as
to service a number
of packaging lines.
The robotic cell 12 has three main components, namely a cleats conveyor 16, a
case support 18
and a robotic arm 20 carrying a pick-up tool (shown in Figures 6 to 9) to pick-
up stand-up pouches
from the cleats conveyor 16 and deposit them in the upright configuration in
the case supported
on the case support 18.
The cleats conveyor 16 is shown in greater detail at Figure 4. It has an
endless belt 22 that loops
a pair of spaced apart rollers, one the rollers being a driven roller such as
to impart movement of
the belt 22. A series of cleats 24 are arranged serially and in a spaced apart
relationship on the
endless belt 22. As depicted in the drawing, each cleat has a base that is
attached to the endless
belt 22 such that the body of the cleat, which is substantially planar is
maintained perpendicular
to the endless belt surface. In this fashion, the cleats that are located on
the upper run of the
endless belt 22 are substantially vertical and generally parallel to each
other. In addition, their
spacing is such that a stand-up pouch can fit between then. The cleat spacing
can vary according
to the size of the stand-up pouch. For thicker stand-up pouches, the cleats
can be spaced more
than for thinner stand-up pouches.
Date Recue/Date Received 2021-03-23
Figure 4 illustrates in greater detail certain elements of the conveyor 16. In
particular, the
conveyor 16 has tabs 26 arranged collectively to form side barriers running on
each side of the
series of cleats 24. In a specific form of implementation, each tab is
integrally formed with the
belt 22 and projects upwardly therefrom. Generally, the tab extends
transversally to the main
cleat body. The tabs provide lateral support to the stand-up pouches and avoid
the stand-up
pouches from falling off the conveyor 16 as they are transported. The tabs
extend upwardly up
to a certain height of the cleats 22. The height and sizing of the tabs can
vary depending on the
stand-up pouch configuration.
It will be noted that the individual tabs 26 are spaced apart from each other
in order to leave a
gap 28 which is positioned centrally to the inter-cleat space. The gaps 28 on
both side barriers
register with each other in order to accommodate pick-up fingers of the pick-
up tool as it will be
described below.
As a possible variant, the tabs can be replaced by a row of upwardly
projecting bristles or
filaments sufficiently rigid and close to each other to form a continuous
barrier running along the
conveyor 16. The bristles are sufficiently rigid to prevent the pouches from
fallig off the conveyor
but they can be pushed aside to allow the fingers of the pick-up tool to enter
the inter-cleat
spaces and pick the pouches.
The cleats conveyor 16 is supplied with pouches via a positioning conveyor 30
which is depicted
in Figure 3. The positioning conveyor 30 has an upper run that is generally
horizontal with a guide
baffle 32 that constraints the pouches that travel in bulk on the conveyor 30
toward a conveyor
outlet that has a width generally corresponding to the width of the cleats
conveyor 16, in order
to perform a smoot pouch transition from one conveyor to the other.
The case support 18 is another conveyor belt on which empty cases are placed
at the conveyor
entry 34 and cases filled with pouches are delivered at the conveyor exit 38.
The case support 18
is sequentially operated in that the empty case is positioned at a location
where the robotic arm
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will fill it, it is stopped there and remains at that position until filled,
and then the conveyor belt
is started to bring it to the exit 38. In contrast the cleats conveyor 16
operates constantly and the
robotic arm 20 cycles between the both conveyor in order to pick up pouches
from the cleats
conveyor 16 and place them in the case at the opposite side on the case
support 18.
At the extremity of the robotic arm is placed a tool 40, depicted in Figures
6, 7 and 8 which is
configured to pick up a plurality of pouches maintained in the upright
position on the cleats
conveyor 16 and deposit them in the case 42 shown in Figure 5. It will be
noted in Figure 5 that
the pouches 10 are arranged in three rows of 8 pouches that are held in place
by the bottom of
the case 44, the front wall 46 of the case, the back wall 48 of the case, the
left side wall 50 of the
case and the right side wall 52 of the case. It will be understood that the
pouches 10 are also
held in place during transport by the top wall of the case 42, which would be
removed when the
case is placed on a shelf in the retail store such as to allow a customer to
pick-up the pouches 10.
Note that the illustration in Figure 5 is merely an example and the case may
hold more than three
rows of pouches or less than three row of pouches.
Referring back to Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9 the pick-up tool 40 is able to rotate
about a vertical axis 54
shown by doted lines. To achieve this motion, actuators (not shown) are
provided on the robotic
arm under the control of a data processing device, discussed later, to
position the pick-up tool at
a selected angular orientation in a horizontal plane, by turning the tool 40
about the axis 54.
The tool 40 has an array of supporting fingers 56 to lift from the cleats
conveyor 16 a plurality of
pouches simultaneously. In a specific example, the number of pouches that are
picked up in a
single stroke of the robotic arm 20 with the pick-up tool 40 correspond to the
number of pouches
that fit in a single row of the case 42. In the example shown in the drawings,
that would be 8
pouches, but of course that can vary depending on the size of the case 42. The
individual fingers
56 are spaced apart to line up with the gaps 28 between the tabs 26 of the
cleats conveyor 16.
Accordingly, when the pick-up tool will insert the array of supporting fingers
through the tabs,
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the fingers enter under the pouches that are held in the upright position
between the cleats 24.
The sequence of movements to extract the pouches from the cleats conveyor 16
will be discussed
below.
Note that the array of supporting fingers is arranged to lie in a generally
horizontal plane. The
fingers are mounted to a frame 61 which in turn is mounted to an actuator 63
to move the frame
61 and the array of supporting fingers 56 back and forth along the direction
shown by the axis
65. Figures 6 and 7 show the array of supporting fingers 56 moved in the
retracted position,
where the fingers are underneath the tool 40. In Figure 9, the actuator 63 is
extended and the
fingers 56 are moved laterally. The actuator is preferably a pneumatic
actuator but can be
another kind of actuator such as an electric one..
Above the fingers 56 is located a gripping device 58 that includes two pairs
of jaws in a spaced
apart relationship. The gripping device includes a first pair of jaws 62 and
64 that are opposite
and face each other and a second pair of jaws 66, 68 that face each other. The
jaws 66, 68 are
mounted to actuators that can move the jaws 66, 68 toward and away from each
other.
The robotic cell has a computerized control system, including one or more
processors that receive
inputs from a range of different sensors that may include position sensors to
generate signals
controlling the movement of the robotic arm including the pick-up tool 40 and
the cleats
conveyor 18 and the case support 18. A block diagram of the computerized
control system is
shown in Figure 10.
The computerized control system has a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 70 that
executes software
comprising individual instructions. The CPU 70 receives sensors input 72 via a
suitable interface
74. As indicated earlier, the sensors input 72 collectively designate the
outputs of a range of
sensors including:
1) Position sensors or switches.
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Date Recue/Date Received 2021-03-23
2) A camera sensor that can be placed on the robotic arm 20, in particular on
the pick-
up tool 40. The camera sensor provides an image data flow that the CPU 70
processed
to perform image recognition in order to identify objects of interest in the
image.
3) Operational condition of the cleats conveyor 16, in particular a condition
indicating
that a sufficient number of pouches are available for pick-up by the pick-up
tool 40;
4) Operational condition of the case support 18, for example indicating that
an empty
case is loaded and available to receive the pouches therein.
On the basis of the sensor inputs 72 the CPU generates actuator outputs to
move the robotic arm
20, including the pick-up tool 40 and also to control the movement of the
cleats conveyor 16 and
the case support 18. The actuator outputs and other control signals are output
via an interface
76.
The robotic cell operates as follows.
Assume the cleats conveyor 16 is loaded with at least 8 pouches that have been
picked up from
the positioning conveyor 30. The 8 pouches are held between the individual
cleats 24 and
laterally held in the cleats conveyor 16 by the lateral support tabs 26. The
control system issues
a control signal for the cleats conveyor 16 to stop to allow the robotic arm
20 to pick up the
pouches. Alternatively, the robotic arm 20 may be synchronized with the
movement of the cleats
conveyor 16 and laterally move with the cleats conveyor 16 such as to perform
the pouch pick
up without the necessity of the cleats conveyor 16 stopping.
The pouch pick-up operation is initiated by setting up the pick-up tool into a
condition in which
it can engage the pouches without interference with the slats 24. First, the
fingers are shifted
sideways by the pneumatic actuator 63 to clear the space between the jaws 62-
68. This is best
shown at Figure 9. The fingers 56 are laterally offset with relation to the
jaws 62-68 thus allowing
to lower the pick-up tool including the jaws 62-69 on the cleats conveyor 16
such that the first
pair of jaws 62¨ 64 will be on each lateral side of the cleats 24 while each
of the jaws 66-68 will
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fit between two adjacent cleats. Since the jaws 66-68 are relatively thin,
then can be inserted
between two adjacent cleats even though there is a pouch present. The fingers
56 are laterally
offset sufficiently such that their tips clear the cleats conveyor 16. The
insertion movement above
is made by aligning the fingers 56 with the gaps 28 between the tabs 28. The
alignment can be
done by locating the pick-up tool using some sort of reference mark on the
cleats conveyor 16
that can be identified via image recognition such that the fingers 56 are in
the proper position
and will not interfere with the tabs 26. Once the proper alignment of the
fingers 56 and the gaps
28 has been achieved and the lowering movement that positions the jaws 62-68
on the cleats
conveyor 16 is effected, the fingers 56 are advanced laterally by the actuator
63 such that the
fingers 56 penetrate the space between the cleats 24 and enter under the
pouches held between
the cleats 24. The depth of the fingers 56 should be sufficient to support the
pouches sufficiently
and avoid they fall off. It is not necessary for the fingers to have the same
length as the width of
the pouches (as measured transversally to the movement of the cleats 24).
Advantageously, the
fingers should have a length that does not exceed the width of the pouches to
facilitate the
release of the pouches in the case and the retraction of the pick-up tool 40
from the case.
The pick-up tool 40 in a position to hold and lift up the pouches from the
cleats conveyor 16 is
shown at Figure 7.
After the fingers 56 fully support the pouches from below, the robotic arm
lifts the pick-up tool
40 up such that the fingers 56 will lift up the 8 pouches. The jaws 62 ¨ 68
then move to the closed
position in which they are brought closer to the pack of pouches such as to
more firmly engage
them and avoid that a pouch falls off from the pick-up tool 40.
Note it is also possible to provide the jaws with 66, 68 with actuators to
bring them closer
somewhat and gather the pouches for increased stability while the pouches are
being carried by
the pick-up tool.
Date Recue/Date Received 2021-03-23
The robotic arm then moves the pick-up tool 40 over the over the case 42 and
aligns the pick-up
tool such that the 8 pouches are above the row 1. The robotic arm then lowers
the pick-up tool
40 until the fingers 56 engage the bottom wall 46 of the case. The pick-up
tool 40 is then
operated to laterally move the fingers 56 such they acquire the position as
shown in Figure 9. In
that position the fingers 56 release the pouches which sit on the bottom wall
46. The jaws 62-68
open and the pick-up tool is lifted up from the case 42. It should be
appreciated that the lateral
motion of the fingers 56, from the position shown in Figure 7 to the one in
position 9 is possible
as the row 2 is empty and there is no interference.
The operation is then repeated to fill row 2 with pouches. The operation is
performed in the
same way with row 1, since row 3 is empty and provides enough space for the
fingers to retract
there and then the pick-up tool 40 be lifted and extracted from the case 42.
However, the operation for row 3 is different as there is no more space in the
case 42 to retract
the fingers 56. In this case the pick-up tool 40 is not inserted into the case
42, instead it is
maintained above the rows 1 and 2 of pouches. In particular, the pick-up tool
40 is positioned
such that the pack of pouches held by the pick-up tool 40 is aligned with
empty space or row 3.
The fingers 56 are then retracted to put the pick-up tool 40 in the position
shown in Figure 9
allowing the pouches to fall down into the case 42. However, the pouches of
row 2 and the sides
of the case 42 continue to guide the pouches as they fall down to prevent them
from tipping
over, thus the pouches maintain their upright orientation, thus completing the
filling of the case
42.
The case 42 can then be moved off the support 18, closed and shipped to the
retailer. At the
retailer location the case 42 is opened, for instance the panels forming the
top wall can be cut-
off leaving only the side walls and bottom wall of the case 42 in which the
pouches are held in
three rows and in the upright position. The pouches are thus neatly aligned
and can be easily
picked up by the consumer.
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