Material or article handling – Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into – within,... – Unstacking apparatus
Patent
1998-03-31
1999-11-16
Underwood, Donald W.
Material or article handling
Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into, within,...
Unstacking apparatus
414416, 414737, 4147966, 414929, 294 65, 294 864, 294104, 901 40, B65G 5904
Patent
active
059846232
ABSTRACT:
An end effector for use with a robot and capable of removing cases from a stack of cases and emptying the selected case of substantially flat, folded articles. The end effector includes a main body designed to be coupled to the robot. A case gripper is mounted on the bottom of the main body. A flattened articles gripper is also coupled to the main body and includes a vacuum chamber with two blades. A dunnage gripper is mounted on one of the sides of the main body. In use, the case gripper picks a full case from a pallet of cases and moves that case to an unloading station. There, the end effector is rotated so that the blades of the flattened articles gripper can be inserted into the case. With the blades inserted, vacuum is supplied to the flattened articles gripper to hold the articles against the gripper. Then, the end effector with the articles is moved to a regripping station where the articles are temporarily placed and regripped. So grasped, the articles are moved to a second station where the flattened articles are fed into an automated processing line. This process continues until an entire pallet of cases has been emptied. The dunnage gripper is used to remove sheets of material placed between each level of cases in the stack of cases and to remove empty cases from the unloading station.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4645411 (1987-02-01), Madwed
patent: 5199845 (1993-04-01), Hirashima et al.
patent: 5365977 (1994-11-01), Goad et al.
patent: 5564893 (1996-10-01), Tacchi et al.
patent: 5727832 (1998-03-01), Holter
Grams Robert S.
Haddix Scott K.
Holter Carl F.
Smith Scott R.
ABB Flexible Automation Inc.
Kees Nicholas A.
Underwood Donald W.
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