Dynamic rotation angle-based wrapping

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11111045-B2
Application number	US-201816017602-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 25, 2018
Priority date	Oct 25, 2012
Publication date	Sep 7, 2021
Grant date	Sep 7, 2021

Abstract

A wrapping apparatus and method utilize a corner rotation angle-based wrap control that controls the rate at which packaging material is dispensed based on the rotational position of one or more corners of the load determined during relative rotation established between the load and a packaging material dispenser.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for wrapping a load with packaging material, the apparatus comprising:
a packaging material dispenser that dispenses packaging material to the load;
a rotational drive system that generates relative rotation between the packaging material dispenser and the load about a center of rotation;
an angle sensor that senses an angular relationship between the load and the packaging material dispenser about the center of rotation; and
a controller coupled to the packaging material dispenser, the rotational drive system and the angle sensor and that controls a dispense rate of the packaging material dispenser during the relative rotation by calculating, during the relative rotation and using the angular relationship sensed by the angle sensor and a calculated location of at least one corner of the load within a plane perpendicular to the center of rotation, a rotation angle that is about the center of rotation and that is for the at least one corner of the load.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the rotation angle is a corner location angle.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the rotation angle is a corner contact angle representing an angle at which packaging material first comes into contact with the at least one corner during the relative rotation between the load and the packaging material dispenser.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the rotation angle is relative to a predetermined angular position about the center of rotation.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined angular position is a fixed angular position.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined angular position is a home angular position.

7. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the controller controls the dispense rate of the packaging material dispenser during the relative rotation based at least in part on a rotation angle for each corner of the load during the relative rotation.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller receives input data including a length, width and offset of the load from the center of rotation, and wherein the controller calculates the location of the at least one corner of the load using the length, width and offset included in the input data.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the angle sensor comprises an encoder that senses rotation of a load support upon which the load is supported or of the packaging material dispenser about the center of rotation, and wherein the angle sensor senses the angular relationship in terms of degrees or fractions of degrees about the center of rotation.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller initiates a controlled intervention based at least in part on the calculated rotation angle.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the controlled intervention varies the dispense rate relative to a predicted dispense rate calculated based upon a predicted demand for packaging material.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the controller anticipates a contact between the packaging material and a corner of the load and performs the controlled intervention in response to anticipating the contact.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller controls the dispense rate of the packaging material dispenser during the relative rotation based upon a wrap speed model, and wherein the controller offsets system lag by applying a rotational data shift to the wrap speed model.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller further controls the dispense rate of the packaging material dispenser during the relative rotation by:
tracking rotation angles for both a current corner and a next corner during the relative rotation;
controlling the dispense rate based at least in part on the rotation angle for the current corner;
determining when the packaging material will contact the next corner during the relative rotation while controlling the dispense rate based at least in part on the rotation angle for the current corner; and
controlling the dispense rate based at least in part on the rotation angle for the next corner after the packaging material is determined to contact the next corner.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller calculates the location of the at least one corner of the load.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the controller calculates the location of the at least one corner by calculating a corner radial having a length and extending substantially between the corner and the center of rotation.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the controller calculates the location of the at least one corner by determining a polar coordinate for the corner of the load relative to the center of rotation.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , further comprising a dimensional sensor that senses a length, width and offset of the load from the center of rotation, and wherein the controller calculates the location of the at least one corner of the load using the length, width and offset sensed by the dimensional sensor.

19. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the controller calculates the location of the at least one corner of the load during the relative rotation.

20. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the controller further recalculates the location of the at least one corner of the load during the relative rotation and calculates the rotation angle for the at least one corner of the load using the recalculated location.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the controller recalculates the location of the at least one corner of the load at each of a plurality of relative rotations between the load and the packaging material dispenser.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the controller further recalculates the location of the at least one corner of the load at each of a plurality of elevations of the load.

23. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the controller recalculates the location of the at least one corner of the load during a first relative rotation between the load and the packaging material dispenser and uses the recalculated location of the at least one corner of the load to calculate the rotation angle for the at least one corner of the load in a subsequent relative rotation between the load and the packaging material dispenser.

24. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the controller further recalculates a dimension of the load during the relative rotation and uses the recalculated dimension to recalculate the location of the at least one corner of the load.

25. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller calculates the rotation angle using a wrap speed model, and wherein the controller uses the wrap speed model over an entire wrapping cycle.

26. A method of wrapping a load with packaging material, the method comprising:
providing relative rotation between a load and a packaging material dispenser about a center of rotation to dispense packaging material to the load;
sensing with an angle sensor an angular relationship between the load and the packaging material dispenser about the center of rotation; and
controlling a dispense rate of the packaging material dispenser during the relative rotation by calculating, during the relative rotation and using the angular relationship sensed by the angle sensor and a calculated location of at least one corner of the load within a plane perpendicular to the center of rotation, a rotation angle that is about the center o

Assignees

• Lantech Com Llc

Inventors

• Lancaster Iii Patrick R
• Mitchell Michael P
• Mccray Jeremy D
• Johnson Richard L

Classifications

• B65B11/045 Primary

  by rotating platforms supporting the articles · CPC title

• B65B57/04 Primary

  and operating to control, or to stop, the feed of such material, containers, or packages · CPC title

• B65B11/025

  by webs revolving around stationary articles · CPC title