Handling system and method for handling piece goods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11220000-B2
Application number	US-201716469727-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 21, 2017
Priority date	Dec 22, 2016
Publication date	Jan 11, 2022
Grant date	Jan 11, 2022

Abstract

The invention includes a method and a handling system for manipulating and/or for handling piece goods ( 2 ) moved one after another in at least one row ( 1, 1 a, 1 b ) in a transport direction (TR) on a horizontal conveying device ( 6 ). In each work cycle, seizing at least one transported piece good ( 2 ) from the at least one row ( 1, 1 a, 1 b ) by at least one handling device ( 10 ); spatially separating it from the row ( 1, 1 a, 1 b ); and bringing it into a specified relative target position and/or target alignment relative to subsequent piece goods ( 2 ). After a failure event with an at least a temporary standstill of the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) and/or of the handling device ( 10 ), the handling device ( 10 ) is initialized, and, after the failure has been remedied, the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) automatically restarts and continues the previously interrupted process.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for manipulating or for handling piece goods ( 2 , 2 *) moved one after another in at least one row ( 1 , 1 a , 1 b ) in a transport direction (TR) on a horizontal conveying device ( 6 ), comprising:
in each work cycle, seizing at least one transported piece good ( 2 , 2 *) in a clamping or force-locking or form-locking manner from the at least one row ( 1 , 1 a , 1 b ) by at least one handling device ( 10 ), spatially separating the seized at least one transported piece good ( 2 , 2 *) from the at least one row ( 1 , 1 a , 1 b ), moving the at least one separated piece good ( 2 , 2 *) into a specified relative target position (P, P 1 , P 2 , P 3 , P 4 , P 5 , P 6 , P 7 , P 8 ) or target alignment relative to subsequent piece goods ( 2 , 2 *), and storing all positions or target positions (P, P 1 , P 2 , P 3 , P 4 , P 5 , P 6 , P 7 , P 8 ) of the piece goods ( 2 , 2 *) located on the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) or located in a seizing range ( 4 ) of the handling device ( 10 ),
wherein the at least one moved piece good ( 2 , 2 *) is further transported in the transport direction (TR), and
wherein after a failure event causing an interruption in the work cycle, including an at least temporary standstill of the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) or of the handling device ( 10 ), initializing the handling device ( 10 ),
and wherein, after remedying the failure event, automatically restarting the work cycle and continuing the work cycle from a point at which the work cycle was interrupted,
and wherein, after the failure event has been remedied, retrieving all positions or target positions (P, P 1 , P 2 , P 3 , P 4 , P 5 , P 6 , P 7 , P 8 ) of the piece goods ( 2 , 2 *).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the automatically restarting the work cycle comprises automatically restarting the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ), and wherein the continuing the work cycle comprises operating the handling device ( 10 ) from the point at which the work cycle was interrupted.

3. The method of claim 2 , after the failure event has been remedied, operating, for a specified period of time, the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) or the handling device ( 10 ) in a repair mode.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the operating in repair mode step comprises starting at least the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) at a reduced speed (v 6 *).

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the operating in repair mode step further comprises starting the handling device ( 10 ) at a reduced positioning speed.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein, after initializing the handling device ( 10 ), the retrieving step further comprises retrieving at least one position of the handling device.

7. The method of claim 6 , after initializing the handling device ( 10 ), further comprising continuing or completing each work cycle.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein, after the failure event has been remedied and after initializing the handling device ( 10 ), the handling device ( 10 ) queries signal values from absolute encoders assigned to movable sections of the handling device ( 10 ).

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein, during the operating in repair mode step, detecting the positions or target positions (P, P 1 , P 2 , P 3 , P 4 , P 5 , P 6 , P 7 , P 8 ) of all piece goods ( 2 , 2 *) by image processing.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein, in the repair mode, detecting the positions and/or target positions (P, P 1 , P 2 , P 3 , P 4 , P 5 , P 6 , P 7 , P 8 ) of all piece goods ( 2 , 2 *) by at least one sensor movable parallel to the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ).

11. A handling system for manipulating or for handling piece goods ( 2 , 2 *) during a work cycle comprising:
a horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) that conveys piece goods ( 2 , 2 *) one after another in at least one row ( 1 , 1 a , 1 b ) in a transport direction (TR),
at least one handling device ( 10 ) spatially assigned to the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ), wherein the at least one handling device ( 10 ) seizes at least one piece good ( 2 , 2 *) in a clamping or force-locking or form-locking manner, and spatially separates the at least one seized piece good ( 2 , 2 *) from the row ( 1 , 1 a , 1 b ), and moving the at least one seized piece good ( 2 , 2 *) into a specified relative target position (P, P 1 , P 2 , P 3 , P 4 , P 5 , P 6 , P 7 , P 8 ) or target alignment relative to subsequent piece goods ( 2 , 2 *), and
a control system that monitors movement of the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) and seizing, separating, and transferring movements of the at least one handling device ( 10 ), and that controls the at least one handling device ( 10 ) and the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) to form palletizable layer arrangements ( 12 ) of a plurality of shifted and repositioned or realigned piece goods ( 2 , 2 *),
wherein a plurality of control routines are stored in the control system, and the plurality of control routines a) identify the occurrence of failure events that create at least temporary standstills of the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) or of the handling device ( 10 ), b) reinitialize the handling device ( 10 ), c) continue the seizing, separating, and moving movements of the at least one handling device ( 10 ), and d) restarting the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) after the failure event has been remedied.

12. The handling system of claim 11 , wherein, after reinitializing the handling device ( 10 ), the plurality of control routines automatically continue the seizing, separating, and transferring movements of the at least one handling device ( 10 ) from a point at which the work cycle was interrupted.

13. The handling system of claim 12 , further comprising a sensor system that a) detects and stores all positions of the piece goods ( 2 , 2 *) located on the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) or located in a seizing range ( 4 ) of the handling device ( 10 ), and b) transmits all positions of the piece goods ( 2 , 2 *) located on the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) or located in a seizing range ( 4 ) of the handling device ( 10 ) to the control system, wherein positions of the piece goods ( 2 , 2 *) are retrievable for automatically continuing the seizing, separating, and transferring movements of the at least one handling device ( 10 ).

14. The handling system of claim 13 , wherein the sensor system further comprises one or more absolute encoders assigned to at least a selection of movable sections of the handling device ( 10 ), wherein the one or more absolute encoders transmit positions of the piece goods ( 2 , 2 *) located on the horizontal conveying device ( 6 ) or located in a seizing range ( 4 ) of the handling device ( 10 ) to the control system.

15. The handling system of claim 14 , wherein the at least one handling device ( 10 ) comprises a parallel kinematic robot ( 42 ) with at least one controllable gripping arm for seizing one or more piece goods ( 2 , 2 *), wherein parallel kinematic robot has a movement range ( 4 ) spatially assigned to the at least one horizontal conveying device ( 6 ).

Assignees

• Krones Ag

Inventors

• Kollmuss Manuel
• Beer Erhard
• Astner Michael
• Mehdi Arsalan

Classifications

• B65G47/22

  Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors (during feeding B65G47/14) · CPC title

• B65G43/00

  Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting · CPC title

• B65G2203/0233

  Position of the article · CPC title

• B65G2203/0291

  Speed of the load carrier · CPC title

• B65G2203/0225

  Orientation of the article · CPC title