Material or article handling – Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into – within,... – Removes intersupporting article from row
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-11
2004-07-20
Krizek, Janice L. (Department: 3652)
Material or article handling
Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into, within,...
Removes intersupporting article from row
C221S238000, C414S795600
Reexamination Certificate
active
06764273
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to an arrangement for automatically denesting containers in lying position and nested in each other, the containers being deposited on a support, e.g. a conveyor, with the container opening facing upward, the arrangement comprising gripping means for gripping and moving out a respective first container of a lying container stack, the gripping means being arranged on holding elements movable in the direction of the stack, and further comprising clamping means for holding back the lying container stack, with the foremost container being left free.
Containers which as a rule have frusto-conical shapes, i.e. have oblique walls, are stored in stacks in warehouse stocks or in commissioning systems, e.g., and they must be denested again before use and supplied individually for filling. Denesting should occur rapidly and gently and, in particular, it should be automated since the individual containers are supplied to conveying means in intermittent manner, and manual denesting would be very laborious.
In DE 3 042 903 A, automatic denesting has been described. Here, a lifting mechanism is provided which engages the respective uppermost container of a vertical container stack advanced on a conveyor belt, which lifts this uppermost container and which deposits it on a conveyor belt. What is of disadvantage is that the lifting mechanism is relatively complex in construction, primarily since it must engage containers at ever changing levels; moreover, the vertical container stacks pose problems if they have to be advanced over larger distances since, in case of major stack heights, they have little stability and topple easily if their movement is started or stopped with jerks.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,578 A, a vertical container stack is top-delivered to a holding device, the lowermost container being left free so that it drops onto a conveyor belt provided therebelow and is moved off by aid of the same. In detail, two oppositely arranged flange rims of the containers lie on projecting tooth ledges of a chain, which tooth ledges guide the containers downwardly in still stacked manner. By means of projections engaging the two oppositely arranged rims of the lowermost container from above, a second chain moving faster and in counter-direction pushes this lowermost container from the stack downwards to below so that it drops to the conveyor belt at last and is transported away. Here, too, it is a disadvantage that the stack is provided vertically, with the risk of tilting, as already described before, primarily in case of major stack heights. Moreover, the devices used must be built high, increasing construction costs. The container stack must not exceed a certain height also because otherwise it would become too heavy and the stack could no longer be carried by the device.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,098 A, an arrangement of the present type is described, for providing cup-shaped conical containers individually before they are filled and closed, the containers being delivered in vertical stacks which are turned over. From the lying container stack, the foremost container is gripped by vertically movable lug members which then are moved horizontally together with the foremost container so as to pull it away from the remaining stack. At the same time, the second container is held back by like, vertically movable lug members. To be put into an upright position, the foremost container moves against a pivotable hook member which grips the upper container rim at its inner side so that the container is decelerated at its upper rim while it is transported on on the conveyor; this results in upright tilting of the container. A disadvantage is that the lug members which engage behind the container rims with one of their legs must be precisely adapted to the containers and that their vertical movement requires a relatively complex driving means which in parts must be mounted laterally of the conveyor.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,212 A, finally, an arrangement for downwardly tilting cup-shaped containers, bottoms first, is described, wherein this denesting should be effected in an automatic drink dispenser. The cups are pushed forwards by pivotable ram arms via arcuate rails until they fall into a holding means on a conveyor. At the same time, the second cup of the stack is kept back by gripping fingers. This construction is provided for denesting cups, and it is hardly suitable for containers of substantially larger mass.
It is an object of the invention to provide an arrangement for denesting, as initially indicated, with which it is possible to denest nested containers in a rapid and reliable manner, by using simple construction measures, as well as with a high flexibility as regards container dimensions.
The arrangement according to the invention of the initially defined kind is characterized in that the gripping means is provided with lateral pressure-medium cylinders which have horizontal axes on the same level and which are connected with the holding elements extending thereabove. Because of the lying posture of the container stack, the structural height of the arrangement can be a low one, and also the containers need not be lifted or need be lifted only slightly. Thus, the “overhead”-arrangement of the holding elements does not pose any problems. The use of pressure medium cylinders for the gripping means allows for a simple mode of construction, while nevertheless an easy, reliable and rapid gripping of the foremost container is possible. Since the pressure medium cylinders have horizontal axes on the same level, the foremost container is tightly held between the pressure medium cylinders, with the containers neither tilting nor sliding off-center.
The entire lying or horizontal container stack can be lifted from its support by a lifting mechanism before the foremost container is moved on, the lifting mechanism being capable of reaching between rollers of a roller conveyor provided as support, e.g.; the lifting mechanism may, however, also be built with rails or lifting ledges engaging laterally on the lower side of the container stack, in which case the stack support may also be formed by a conveying belt. Lifting of the container stack reliably prevents frictional sliding of the first container along the support while it is being pulled away from the container stack. Apart from the fact that the containers and the conveyor are carefully treated thereby, in this manner the amount of energy employed is minimized.
The pressure medium cylinders provided according to the invention may engage the respective container frictionally or positively, and suitably they are simply released from the container after the respective container has been moved away from the remaining stack and after it has been pivoted, and thus this container is simply dropped onto its support; the dropping height may be low so that a gentle “depositing” of the containers nevertheless is ensured. The pressure medium cylinders are to be designed such that they are capable of transmitting the respective transverse forces; optionally, also a lever mechanism can be provided. For pivoting of the containers while providing them individually, it is particularly advantageous if the pressure medium cylinders are rotatably arranged on the holding elements.
It is particularly advantageous if the holding elements are mounted to be linearly displaceable in parallel to the container stack. In this manner, the foremost container is linearly moved away from the remaining container stack. The foremost container suitably is gripped at its opening rim or collar facing rearwards, and is pushed from the container stack with its bottom facing forwards, the container bottom of the foremost container at least in the starting phase of pushing from the stack being located at a distance above the support so that the container does not chafe on the support.
The pressure medium cylinders, or their piston rods, respectively, may be oriented coaxially, and may be provided with a rubber head or the like with which they can be pressed soft
Knapp Logistik Automation GmbH
Krizek Janice L.
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