System and method for automating packaging of varying shipment sets

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11203449-B2
Application number	US-201815885124-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 31, 2018
Priority date	Jan 31, 2017
Publication date	Dec 21, 2021
Grant date	Dec 21, 2021

Abstract

A system for automating packaging of varying shipment sets comprises a control unit for receiving from a database stored information on the size and number of items forming a shipment set according to a dispatch order, an information acquiring device for acquiring current information on the items being actually arranged for said shipment set, said information acquiring device being communicatively coupled with said control unit and said control unit being configured to calculate, either based on the information from said database or from the information acquiring device, the dimensions of a custom sized cardboard box for packaging the shipment set, a box forming station for forming said custom sized cardboard box having a bottom wall, four side walls and an open top, a packaging station for packaging the items forming the shipment set into said custom sized cardboard box, and a lid placing station for closing said custom sized cardboard box with an appropriate lid, wherein said control unit is configured for performing a verification using the current information from said information acquiring device and the stored information from said database to verify that the actual shipment set is formed according to the dispatch order.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for automating packaging of varying shipment sets, comprising:
a control unit for receiving from a database stored information on the size of items and the number of items forming a shipment set according to a dispatch order, said number of items being two or more,
an information acquiring device for acquiring current information on the items being actually arranged for said shipment set, said information acquiring device being communicatively coupled with said control unit and said control unit being configured to calculate, either based on the stored information from said database or based on the current information from the information acquiring device, the dimensions of a custom sized cardboard box for packaging the shipment set,
a box forming station for forming said custom sized cardboard box having a bottom wall, four side walls and an open top,
a first packaging station and a second packaging station for packaging the items forming the shipment set into said custom sized cardboard box,
a diverting unit which diverts said shipment set to one of a plurality of destinations, wherein the plurality of destinations includes the first packaging station and the second packaging station,
a lid placing station for closing said custom sized cardboard box with an appropriate lid, and
a joining unit that receives packaged shipment sets from both the first packaging station and the second packaging station and places the packaged shipment sets onto a single transportation line, which carries the packaged shipment sets to the lid placing station,
wherein said control unit is configured for performing a verification by determining a deviation between said current information on the items actually arranged for said shipment set and the stored information on said size of items and said number of items forming said shipment set according to the dispatch order from said database to verify that the shipment set is formed according to the dispatch order.

2. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising at least a positioning device for gripping the items forming the shipment set and placing the items in the custom sized cardboard box.

3. The system according to claim 1 , wherein said information acquiring device comprises at least one of: a barcode scanner, an RFID scanner, a camera, a data base with at least one of item information and dispatch order information, a length measuring device, and a 3D measuring device.

4. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a box marking unit providing a machine readable identifier for the custom sized cardboard box, said machine readable identifier permanently or temporarily attached to the custom sized cardboard box or to a device for transporting the custom sized cardboard box.

5. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a displaying device at said first packaging station or said second packaging station for providing instructions on arranging the items in said custom sized cardboard box.

6. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a lid forming station for forming a custom sized lid for said custom sized cardboard box.

7. The system according to claim 1 wherein in response to a failure to verify that the shipment set is formed according to the dispatch order the diverting unit diverts the shipment set to be set aside for human review.

8. The system according to claim 1 wherein the system includes a third packaging station, and the plurality of destinations includes the third packaging station.

9. The system according to claim 1 wherein the diverting unit is a first diverting unit, the system further comprising:
a second diverting unit which in a first orientation diverts said custom sized cardboard box to one of the plurality of destinations, and in a second orientation diverts said custom sized cardboard box to another of the plurality of destinations.

10. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an assembly line upon which the shipment set is assembled and then transported to the information acquiring device.

Assignees

• Quadient Tech France

Inventors

• Koet Anne
• Smit Reint
• Zeilstra Joost

Classifications

• B65B59/003

  Arrangements to enable adjustments related to the packaging material · CPC title

• B65B59/001

  Arrangements to enable adjustments related to the product to be packaged · CPC title

• G06Q10/087

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• B65B59/02

  Arrangements to enable adjustments to be made while the machine is running · CPC title

• B65B5/024

  for making containers from preformed blanks · CPC title