Package making – Methods – Applying a partial cover
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-10
2003-09-09
Gerrity, Stephen F. (Department: 3721)
Package making
Methods
Applying a partial cover
C053S445000, C053S155000, C053S582000, C053S441000, C053S556000, C414S789600, C414S331130, C414S280000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06615565
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to apparatus for packing a pack or lot of boards. This invention also relates to a method of packing a pack of boards. This invention also relates to a board storage unit for use in the apparatus.
This invention relates particularly but not exclusively to apparatus for handling packs or lots of boards for use in building construction, eg plasterboard and fibre-cement boards. It will be convenient to hereinafter describe this invention with reference to the example application of packs of these boards. However it is to be clearly understood that it is capable of other applications, and in particular it is suitable for handling and packing other types of boards.
In the specification the term plasterboards shall be interpreted broadly. For example plasterboards shall be interpreted to include boards made of fibre-cement and also other boards used in building construction.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Sheets of board and in particular plasterboard are used widely in building construction, particularly residential buildings and commercial buildings. For example plasterboard is used to line the internal walls and ceilings of buildings providing the interior surface finish. Other boards, eg fibre-cement boards may be used for specific rooms, eg the bathroom or kitchen, but plasterboard is used for most of the walls.
During construction the boards are supplied on site in the form of packs or lots of boards which are supplied as a single pack to the construction site. Each pack will comprise 50 to 100 boards each with a specific material, size and thickness specification. Individual houselots with their specific requirements for boards of a certain dimension and thickness are assembled or made up at a factory or distribution point and then delivered to the site in a single delivery.
Currently a large amount of manual handling is required to assemble houselots of boards at a distribution point. Individual boards would typically be lifted by a pair of packers, eg persons, who select a predetermined board type and size from a supply of boards and then stack the boards in a manner that facilitates presentation of the load to a forklift truck for loading onto a transport vehicle. There are compelling reasons to reduce the amount of manual handling of boards in the process of assembling a houselot. The weight of individual boards can exceed limits laid down by Workplace Health & Safety Regulations in at least some areas. The lifting of these boards by workers is therefore undesirable. Further the manual handling of the boards leads to high levels of pedestrian traffic on the floor which increases the potential for collision between these pedestrians and forklifts, which is a major source of industrial accidents in these environments.
In addition the process of assembling a pack of boards in this fashion is very labour intensive and it would be advantageous if the labour cost of this assembling process could be reduced making it more efficient.
It would also be advantageous if the boards in a given houselot could be sequenced or ordered in a specific order to ease the amount of handling required at the construction site. That is it would be advantageous to receive the boards in the order in which they would be used by a plasterer on site. This aspect in addition would lead to further productivity increases and cost savings in terms of the labour cost of building a house.
Accordingly it would be advantageous if apparatus could be provided for taking boards out of bins storing the boards, moving them to a packing point where they are stacked into a neat pack and then strapping them together to form a single pack which can be presented to a forklift truck for lifting onto a transport vehicle. It would also be advantageous if the process was automated and had a processing means for calculating the sequence in which boards were drawn from the bins.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of this invention there is provided apparatus for packing boards, the apparatus including:
a plurality of board storage units each storing a plurality of a specific size and specification of board, each board storage unit having means for dispensing a board in the board storage unit; and
a conveyor for conveying the boards in sequence from the various board storage units to a packing point such that a lot or pack of boards can be formed at the packing point comprising boards of desired sizes arranged in a desired sequence.
Thus in its broadest form the invention comprises selecting sheets of different sizes in sequence from the various board storage units and transferring them to a packing point such that the pack or batch ultimately formed at the packing point comprises boards of desired sizes arranged in a desired sequence.
The apparatus may also include selector means for determining the sequence in which boards are drawn from the board storage units and controlling dispensing of the boards from the storage units by activating the appropriate board storage units in turn to dispense the boards.
The selector means may also include a processing means that is a computer programmed with appropriate software for determining the sequence of boards in the pack or lot based on information entered into the computer.
Thus the apparatus also determines the sequence in which boards are drawn from the board storage units based on information which is entered into the processing means, eg by a customer.
This enables the boards arriving at the packing point to be ordered in a particular sequence, eg an order which is favourable to the user which typically would be a plasterer on a building site. It may also take into account the shape of the pack of boards for loading on to a truck.
Applicant has determined that 95% of boards for the typical houselot can be supplied from 40 board storage units, eg bins, each having a different sized board therein. Typically the boards have a length in the range of 2.4 meters to 5-6 meters, and a width of 1.2 meters to 1.35 meters.
Thus the pack is made up by drawing different sized boards in a desired sequence from the respective bins and transferring these in turn on the conveyor means to the packing point.
The apparatus may have at least 20 said board storage units, preferably at least 30 said board storage units, more preferably 38 to 42 board storage units and the board storage units may be sized to accommodate boards having a length of 2.4 meters to 5-6 meters and a width of 1.2 meters to 1.35 meters.
Each board storage unit or bin may be pivotable between a passive position in which the boards are horizontally extending and an active discharge position in which the boards are substantially vertically extending, and a leading board can be tipped or pushed on to the conveyor.
Typically the boards are loaded into each bin for subsequent use in forming a pack when the storage unit is in the passive position and after the loading is completed the unit is moved to the vertically extending operative position.
Each board storage unit may include advancing means for advancing the boards in the unit to a position where the board in the leading position can be tipped on to the conveyor, and lifting means for lifting the board occupying the leading position upwardly such that an upper edge thereof projects upwardly proud of the remainder of the boards in the unit.
The lifting means may comprise a resilient biasing means for lifting the leading board upwardly proud of the remainder of the boards in the unit.
The resilient biasing means may be a spring and the biasing force may be exerted more or less constantly on the board once the board is advanced to the leading position by the advancing means.
Each board storage unit may include dispensing means for detaching the leading board in the unit from the remainder of the boards and tipping the leading board onto the conveyor means. The dispensing means may include detaching means for detaching the raised leading board from the remainder of the boards and also tipping means for tipping the leading bo
Alix Yale & Ristas, LLP
Boral Australian Gypsum Limited
Gerrity Stephen F.
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