Systems and methods for packaging stacked products

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12134492-B2
Application number	US-202017067404-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 9, 2020
Priority date	Oct 9, 2020
Publication date	Nov 5, 2024
Grant date	Nov 5, 2024

Abstract

A packaging system includes a plurality of feed conveyors configured to carry a plurality of carton units thereon and a stacking station. The stacking station includes a stacking conveyor and a plurality of lifting assemblies. Each lifting assembly of the plurality of lifting assemblies is selectively moveable over the stacking conveyor and a corresponding feed conveyor of the plurality of feed conveyors. The packaging system further includes a controller communicatively coupled to the stacking conveyor and the plurality of lifting assemblies. The controller is configured to control a first lifting assembly of the plurality of lifting assemblies to retrieve a first carton unit from a first feed conveyor of the plurality of feed conveyors and control the first lifting assembly to deposit the first carton unit on the stacking conveyor in a stacked relationship with a second carton unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A packaging system comprising:
a plurality of parallel feed conveyors configured to carry a plurality of carton units thereon in a first direction;
a stacking station including a stacking conveyor and a plurality of lifting assemblies, said stacking conveyor configured to carry stacks of carton units in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, each lifting assembly of said plurality of lifting assemblies being selectively moveable over said stacking conveyor and one corresponding feed conveyor of said plurality of parallel feed conveyors; and
a controller communicatively coupled to said stacking conveyor and said plurality of lifting assemblies, said controller configured to:
control a first lifting assembly of said plurality of lifting assemblies to (i) retrieve a first carton unit using a first gripping mechanism of said first lifting assembly, and (ii) vertically lift the first carton unit from a first feed conveyor of said plurality of parallel feed conveyors while the first carton unit is engaged with said first gripping mechanism; and
control said first lifting assembly to (iii) vertically lower the first carton unit while the first carton unit is engaged with said first gripping mechanism, and (iv) deposit the first carton unit, by releasing the first carton unit from the first gripping mechanism, on said stacking conveyor on top of a second carton unit previously deposited on said stacking conveyor in a stacked relationship with the second carton unit, wherein said first gripping mechanism is the same gripping mechanism engaged with the first carton unit during the vertical lifting from the first feed conveyor.

2. The packaging system of claim 1 , said first feed conveyor comprises a gate moveable between a raised position wherein said gate laterally extends across said first feed conveyor and holds the first carton unit from further downstream travel on said first feed conveyor, and a lowered position, wherein said gate does not extend across said first feed conveyor holding the first carton unit from further downstream travel.

3. The packaging system of claim 2 , wherein said controller is further configured to control said gate to move from the raised position to the lowered position after controlling said first lifting assembly to retrieve the first carton unit from said first feed conveyor.

4. The packaging system of claim 1 , wherein said first gripping mechanism includes at least one suction element configured to engage the first carton unit.

5. The packaging system of claim 1 , wherein said stacking conveyor is configured to be indexed discretely, and wherein said controller is further configured to control said stacking conveyor to index after controlling said first lifting assembly to deposit the first carton unit on said stacking conveyor.

6. The packaging system of claim 5 , wherein said stacking conveyor comprises a plurality of guide pairs configured to receive the cartons units therein, and wherein said controller is configured to index said stacking conveyor such that each feed conveyor of said plurality of parallel feed conveyors is aligned with at least one corresponding guide pair of said plurality of guide pairs when in a stacking position.

7. The packaging system of claim 1 , wherein said controller is configured to control each lifting assembly to simultaneously retrieve at least one carton unit from each of said corresponding feed conveyors.

8. The packaging system of claim 1 , wherein said stacking station comprises a track for supporting said first lifting assembly extending from said stacking conveyor to said first feed conveyor, said first lifting assembly being coupled to said track and configured for selective rotation relative thereto, wherein said first lifting assembly retrieves the first carton unit in a first orientation, and wherein said controller is further configured to control said first lifting assembly, after retrieving the first carton unit, to rotate the first carton unit 90° from the first orientation to a second orientation.

9. The packaging system of claim 8 , wherein said controller is configured to control said first lifting assembly to deposit the first carton unit on said stacking conveyor in the second orientation.

10. The packaging system of claim 1 , wherein said stacking station is configured to output stacks of carton units, each stack comprising a respective plurality of stacked carton units, and wherein said plurality of stacked carton units each comprise a greater number of stacked carton units than a number of lifting assemblies of said plurality of lifting assemblies.

11. The packaging system of claim 10 , wherein said controller is further configured to control said plurality of lifting assemblies such that said lifting assemblies are continuously being moved to either retrieve a carton unit from the corresponding conveyor or deposit a carton unit at said stacking conveyor.

12. The packaging system of claim 11 , wherein said lifting assemblies are controlled to operate at substantially the same speed.

13. A method for forming a plurality of carton unit stacks using a packaging system, the packaging system including a plurality of parallel feed conveyors and a stacking station including a stacking conveyor configured to convey carton unit stacks in a first direction and a plurality of lifting assemblies, the lifting assemblies each being selectively moveable over the stacking conveyor and one corresponding feed conveyor of the plurality of parallel feed conveyors, said method comprising:
providing a first carton unit on a first feed conveyor of the plurality of parallel feed conveyors;
carrying, by the first feed conveyor, the first carton unit in a second direction towards the stacking station, the second direction perpendicular to the first direction;
retrieving, by a first lifting assembly of the plurality of lifting assemblies, the first carton unit from the first feed conveyor using a first gripping mechanism of the first lifting assembly;
vertically lifting the first carton unit from the first feed conveyor while the first carton unit is engaged with the first gripping mechanism;
vertically lowering the first carton unit while the first carton unit is engaged with the first gripping mechanism; and
depositing, by the first lifting assembly, the first carton unit, by releasing the first carton unit from the first gripping mechanism, on the stacking conveyor on top of a second carton unit previously deposited on the stacking conveyor in a stacked relationship with the second carton unit, wherein the first gripping mechanism is the same gripping mechanism engaged with the first carton unit during said vertically lifting.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said retrieving the first carton unit from the first feed conveyor comprises engaging, via the first gripping mechanism of the first lifting assembly, the first carton unit.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising moving, after said engaging the first carton unit, a gate of the first feed conveyor from a raised position, wherein the gate laterally extends across the first feed conveyor and holds the first carton unit from further downstream travel on the first feed conveyor, to a lowered position, wherein the gate does not extend across the first feed conveyor holding the first carton unit from further downstream travel.

16. The method of claim 13 further comprising indexing, discretely, the stacking conveyor after said depositing the first carton unit on the stacking conveyor.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein

Assignees

• Westrock Shared Services Llc

Inventors

• Graham Thomas Dean
• Aganovic Amer
• Kempnich Kirk S
• D'Alesio Claudio
• Teston Lonnie

Classifications

• B65B41/06

  by suction-operated grippers · CPC title

• B65B35/54

  Feeding articles along multiple paths to a single packaging position · CPC title

• B65B35/30

  Arranging and feeding articles in groups · CPC title

• B65B35/52 Primary

  building-up the stack from the bottom · CPC title

• B65B35/50 Primary

  Stacking one article, or group of articles, upon another before packaging · CPC title