Material or article handling – Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into – within,... – Stack forming apparatus
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-07
2001-07-24
Krizek, Janice L. (Department: 3652)
Material or article handling
Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into, within,...
Stack forming apparatus
C414S791700, C414S793000, C414S796200, C414S796900, C414S927000, C414S929000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06264421
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a process for palletizing containers, in particular drums, kegs, or other essentially cylindrical or barrel-shaped containers, on a load carrier and/or depalletizing said containers in which, when the filled containers and load carriers are palletized, the pallets are supplied via a transport system and the containers are gripped together as a container layer—in the form of a group of six or eight containers in an orderly arrangement—lowered onto the pallet, and the pallets containing the filled containers are taken away via a transport system, and upon depalletizing, the pallets containing a layer of empty containers are supplied via a transport system, the layer of containers is gripped as a group, removed from the pallet, and the empty containers and pallets are taken away separately from each other by means of appurtenant transport systems, as well as an apparatus to perform the process of palletizing and/or depalletizing.
In processes and apparatuses of the defined type, it has previously been the practice to move the individual containers or a plurality of containers arranged in an orderly pattern in a so-called container layer—in other words, in the gripped and restrained condition—not only in the vertical direction but also in the horizontal direction, either at the same time or consecutively. The transfer velocity and hence the rate of transfer is limited due to the need to limit mass inertia forces and to prevent the container layers—the drums or kegs, for example—from vibrating. These layers preferably are gripped simultaneously in a six- or eight-container arrangement.
The object of the present invention is to create a process of the type defined above as well as an apparatus for performing said process characterized by achieving the greatest possible container layer transfer velocity without causing problems due to mass inertia forces and vibration effects, which would limit the transfer rate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The general principle of the invention therefore is that during palletizing, the given container layer is moved when it is transferred to or from the pallet exclusively by a lifting motion in a vertical orientation relative to the carrying surface that directly or indirectly bears the layer of containers. In this motion, the container layer and the pallet are brought—separately from one another (palletizing) or together (depalletizing) to the same gripping and lift position for the lifting motion by moving their carrying surface in a plane normal to the lifting motion. Depalletizing takes place mutatis mutandis in the reverse order, and the palletizing and depalletizing operations can also be performed in alternation.
The apparatus for performing the process is essentially characterized by the fact that a container layer is transported beneath a stationary gripping, restraining, and lifting system, by which it is gripped, restrained, and lifted in a vertical direction only, and that when the container layer is subsequently lowered in a vertical direction, it is placed on an empty pallet which in the intervening time has been transported beneath the container layer. It is not necessary to move the container layer horizontally during the lifting and lowering. In the depalletizing operation, a pallet containing a layer of empty containers is moved beneath the gripping, restraining, and lifting system in the primary palletizer main frame, and then the layer of containers is gripped, restrained, and lifted, the empty pallet is moved out of the palletizer main frame, and then the layer of containers is lowered onto a carrying surface, and from there it is transported out of the main palletizing frame by means of a transport system.
In addition to the stationary palletizer main frame, which contains means for gripping, restraining, and lifting or lowering the layer of containers, the proposed apparatus has a double shuttle carriage, which can be moved perpendicular to the transport systems through the palletizer main frame on conveyor rails. This carriage consists of two cars, which are permanently connected to one another, each bearing a carrying surface. The first car can either be positioned alternatively on a preparation station upstream from the end of the transport system for supplying filled containers, or it may be positioned elsewhere in a gripping and lifting position in the palletizing main frame. The second car is compelled to alternate between the gripping/lifting position in the palletizing main frame and an empty pallet position provided elsewhere upstream from the end of the transport system for removing pallets that carry a layer of filled containers.
The process and apparatus for performing the process are suitable for palletizing filled containers or depalletizing empty containers. In addition, both of these measures can be performed in alternation in a preferred embodiment of the apparatus, whereby the same means for gripping, restraining, or lifting and lowering the container layer are used in a single location, namely the palletizer main frame. The pallets freed up upon depalletizing can be used in the palletizing operation.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3934713 (1976-01-01), Van der Meer et al.
patent: 4316693 (1982-02-01), Baxter et al.
patent: 5636966 (1997-06-01), Lyon et al.
patent: 385 455 (1990-09-01), None
patent: 2 514 735 (1983-04-01), None
Alix Yale & Ristas, LLP
GEA Till GmbH & Co.
Krizek Janice L.
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