Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor for changing attitude of item relative to conveyed... – By conveying randomly faced items and turning items to...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-13
2001-11-13
Hess, Douglas (Department: 3652)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor for changing attitude of item relative to conveyed...
By conveying randomly faced items and turning items to...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06315103
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to a method and a device for arranging toothbrush bodies, as well as to a machine equipped with such device.
2. Description of the prior art
It is known that toothbrush bodies are produced by means of injection moulding in a mould. Hereby, the toothbrush bodies are ejected from the mould and collected in a non-oriented manner. In order to provide these toothbrush bodies subsequently with brush hair, they have to be supplied to a brush manufacturing machine one by one, in an ordered and correctly oriented manner.
The devices for arranging, more particularly, orienting, toothbrush bodies which are known up to now make use of the principle whereby the toothbrush bodies are set in motion in such a manner, for example, by means of stepwise arranged trays moving up and down, that a selection is performed due to gravity and the mutual contact between the toothbrush bodies, in such a manner that finally only toothbrush bodies are kept back which are oriented in the right direction. Examples thereof are described in the Belgian patents No. 894.577 and No. 1.003.803.
Although these known devices fulfil their purpose in a large number of applications, they will show problems in a number of other applications. This is the case, amongst others, when a number of oriented toothbrush bodies has to be made available with a high certainty in a short period of time. When applying the aforementioned tray system, it may happen that during a certain period of time, no toothbrush bodies will be presented at the exit. Furthermore, there is an increasing tendency of coating toothbrush bodies with a soft plastic or rubber, as a result of which these toothbrush bodies, due to the friction against the trays, may become jammed and therefore cause disturbances.
It is also known that finished toothbrushes often are collected at the discharge side of the toothbrush manufacturing machine in a non-oriented manner, after which the brushes, before packaging, have to be reoriented again.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the first place, the invention aims at a method and device for arranging toothbrush bodies, either toothbrush bodies still to be filled which have to be supplied to a toothbrush manufacturing machine, or toothbrush bodies already provided with brush hair, thus, finished toothbrushes, which have to be packaged, which method and device allows to accomplish a fast arrangement, more particularly, an orientation, in a trouble-free manner and without necessitating a mutual contact between the toothbrush bodies. In the second place, it aims at a method and device with which, moreover, the aforementioned disadvantages of the tray system,-mentioned heretofore are excluded.
To this aim, the invention relates to a method for arranging toothbrush bodies, which toothbrush bodies either or not are provided with brush hair, with as a characteristic that this method consists in supplying the toothbrush bodies to be arranged; detecting the position of the supplied toothbrush bodies by means of a visual recognition system; controlling a sorting element in function of the detections performed by the recognition system; and separating, by means of this sorting element, at least a number of the toothbrush bodies, as well as arranging them at least partially ordered in discharge means.
By the visual detection of the position of the supplied toothbrush bodies, toothbrush bodies can always be detected with certainty and taken up from the supplied quantity in order to be subsequently laid down and transported off in a partially or entirely oriented manner. As arranging takes place on the basis of a visual recognition and the electronic processing of signals, the system can easily be adapted every time when toothbrush bodies of another shape have to be arranged, without necessitating a mechanical adaptation.
According to a first possibility, all detected toothbrush bodies are separated and oriented, or at least partially oriented, by the sorting element.
According to a second possibility, exclusively those toothbrush bodies which fulfil certain criteria, more particularly, certain conditions, in respect to their position, are separated by means of the sorting element. This second possibility offers the additional advantage that use can be made of a relatively simple sorting element, such as, for example, a manipulator with a limited number of motions.
For the recognition system, preferably use is made of an electronic vision system which is provided with a camera, which allows a very precise detection of the position of the toothbrush bodies.
The sorting element preferably consists of a manipulator, more particularly a robot which is provided with a gripper for taking up the toothbrush bodies.
According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the toothbrush bodies, after being separated by the sorting element, are further arranged in one or more separate devices. In these devices, the toothbrush bodies can be positioned, for example, with their handles in the same direction and/or all of them placed with their backside in the same direction. In such case, the sorting element only has to provide for that the toothbrush bodies are positioned with their longitudinal axis in one and the same direction, regardless of the sense of the handles and the direction into which the backside is facing, offering the advantage that the sorting element may be realized in a less complex manner.
According to a variant, one or more of the aforementioned operations actually will be realized by the sorting element which then, preferably, consists of a manipulator. On one hand, a more complex sorting element will then, of course, be necessary, but, on the other hand, then, the advantage is created that the number of devices for performing the additional orientation operations can be limited, as a result of which space is saved.
According to another particular form of embodiment, whereby for the sorting element preferably use is made of a manipulator, the toothbrush bodies are positioned in the correct end position exclusively by the manipulator, thus, without necessitating additional devices for further orientation. In this case, in the control of the manipulator criteria are applied in such a manner that exclusively such toothbrush bodies are separated by the manipulator which, by means of this manipulator, can be completely oriented up into the right end position, whereas the remaining toothbrush bodies are transported past the manipulator.
Preferably, the supplied toothbrush bodies to be arranged shall be supplied in such a manner that they are presented to the visual recognition system in small quantities and preferably substantially free from each other, as a result of which an easy recognition is made possible and it is also obtained that a larger number of toothbrush bodies per supplied quantity takes a position which allows that such toothbrush body can be taken up by a manipulator or such.
The toothbrush bodies which are not separated by the sorting element preferably are brought back into the sorting circuit by means of a closed circuit. Hereby, according to the invention, preferably an alteration of the orientation of these toothbrush bodies will be provided for before presenting them again to the recognition system.
In order to realize the method of the invention, it also relates to a device, the characteristics of which will become clear from the description following hereafter.
Further, the invention also relates to a toothbrush manufacturing machine equipped with such device, whereby this device then supplies arranged and/or oriented toothbrush bodies which have to be provided with brush hair.
The invention also relates to a toothbrush packaging machine equipped with such device, whereby this device provides for that the finished toothbrushes then are supplied to the entry of the toothbrush packaging machines in order to be finally packaged in a blister package or such.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3506840 (1970-04-01), Fink
patent: 4784493 (1988-11-01), Turche
Bacon & Thomas PLLC
Firma G.B. Boucherie nv
Hess Douglas
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