Apparatus for packaging articles and method for same

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

0001The invention relates to an apparatus for packaging articles and a method of operation of the same. More particularly, but not exclusively, the invention relates to an apparatus wherein articles are initially disposed irregularly over an infeed conveyor, and wherein those articles are then manipulated by the apparatus into regular groups of articles disposed in packages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

0002In the field of packaging it is often required to package articles so as to protect those articles and/or to increase the aesthetic appeal and lifetime of those articles.

0003One manner of packaging articles is to group them together and then to transfer them into preformed cartons. The speed with which this is achievable depends largely upon the throughput rates of the grouping and transfer mechanisms. The physical size of any apparatus used to perform the operation of packaging the articles must also be minimized to reduce real-estate cost in a packaging facility.

0004Known apparatus for packaging articles use individual pick and place tools to select articles individually from a stream on a conveyor belt, which stream is often irregular, and depositing the selected articles sequentially into a carton of some kind. A disadvantage with this is that the overall throughput of the apparatus is limited by virtue of the fact that each pick and place cycle must correctly arrange each article relative to any other article in the carton another whilst transferring the article in question into the carton.

0005It would be advantageous if the pick and place operations to arrange the articles destined for a given carton could be carried out at the maximum possible speed of the respective transfer means, and then for a separate transfer means to be used to dispose the arranged articles into a carton. Such an arrangement would also lend itself to producing stacked articles within each carton, which would be a difficult result to achieve if each article were placed in the carton individually by a separate pick and place operation. This may be in part due to the nature of such transfer means; relatively quick and accurate pick and place robotic arms, for example, are well suited to transferring individual articles from one point to another, but would not be suitable for placing articles in deep sided cartons that required a relatively large degree of vertical movement to be properly inserted therein.

0006An aspect of present invention provides an apparatus that overcomes or at least mitigates the disadvantages discussed above.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

0007A first aspect of the present invention provides an apparatus for transferring articles initially conveyed in an infeed stream into cartons conveyed in an outfeed stream, which apparatus comprises first conveyor, a second conveyor and a third conveyor, a first transfer means and a second transfer means, the first conveyor being operable to convey the infeed stream comprising articles disposed in a first arrangement, the first transfer means being operable to engage and transfer selected articles from the infeed stream onto the second conveyor to form a second stream comprising articles disposed in a second arrangement, the second transfer means being operable to transfer articles disposed in said second arrangement into one or more of said cartons conveyed by said third conveyor at a second transfer rate, said second transfer rate being faster than a first transfer rate at which the second transfer means would otherwise be operable to transfer articles disposed in said first arrangement directly into said one or more of said cartons.

0008The apparatus according to claim, wherein said first arrangement is an irregular arrangement Preferably, the second arrangement is a regular arrangement.

0009Preferably, the second transfer means comprises a robotic manipulator capable of transferring selected articles into cartons of greater depth than cartons into which the first transfer means is capable of transferring selected articles into.

0010Preferably, either: <ol id="ol0001"><li>a) the first and second conveyors convey the infeed and second streams in a first direction, whilst the third conveyor conveys the outfeed stream in a second direction opposite to the first direction; or</li><li>b) the first and third conveyors convey the infeed and outfeed streams in a first direction, whilst the second conveyor conveys the second stream in a second direction opposite to the first direction; or</li><li>c) the first conveyor conveys the infeed stream in a first direction, whilst the second and third conveyors convey the second and outfeed streams in a second direction opposite to the first direction.</li></ol>

0011A second aspect of the present invention provides a method for packaging articles initially conveyed in an infeed stream into cartons conveyed in an outfeed stream, which method comprises conveying articles to form an infeed stream of articles that are arranged in a first arrangement, and transferring selected ones of those articles from the infeed stream into a second stream in which they are in a second arrangement using a first transfer means of An apparatus, and further comprising conveying cartons to form an outfeed stream, and transferring the selected articles from the second stream into the one or more cartons in the outfeed stream using a second transfer means of the apparatus, wherein said second arrangement is chosen to allow the second transfer means to transfer those articles at a second rate, which second rate is greater than a first transfer rate at which the second transfer means is capable of transferring articles arranged in the first arrangement into said one or more cartons

0012Preferably, the infeed stream comprises irregularly arranged articles.

0013Preferably, the second stream comprises a contiguous or otherwise regularly arranged series of articles.

0014Preferably, either: <ol id="ol0002"><li>a) the articles in the infeed and second streams are conveyed in first direction, whilst the cartons in the outfeed stream are conveyed in a second direction opposite to the first direction; or</li><li>b) the articles in the infeed and outfeed stream are conveyed in first direction, whilst the articles in the second stream are conveyed in a second direction opposite to the first direction; or</li><li>c) the articles in the infeed stream are conveyed in first direction, whilst the articles in the second stream and the cartons in the outfeed stream are conveyed in a second direction opposite to the first direction.</li></ol>

0015A third aspect of the invention provides apparatus for transferring articles conveyed in an infeed stream into one or more cartons conveyed in an outfeed stream, which packaging a apparatus comprises a first conveyor for conveying the infeed stream, a second conveyor, a third conveyor for conveying the outfeed stream, a first transfer means and a second transfer means, wherein the first transfer means is operable to transfer selected articles from the infeed stream onto the second conveyor arranged in two or more lanes, and the second transfer means is operable to transfer selected articles from said second conveyor into said one or more cartons

0016Preferably, the second transfer means is operable to select articles from one or more of said two or more lanes simultaneously.

0017A fourth aspect of the present invention provides an apparatus for transferring articles conveyed in an infeed stream into one or more cartons conveyed in an outfeed stream, comprising a first conveyor for conveying the infeed stream, a second conveyor, a third conveyor for conveying the outfeed stream, a first transfer means for transferring selected articles from the infeed stream to selected locations on the second conveyor, thereby to build up, with successive transfer operations, a regular arrangement of articles on the second conveyor, which successive transfer operations are not sequential with location of articles in the second stream.

0018A fifth aspect of the present invention provides apparatus for transferring articles conveyed in an infeed stream into one or more cartons conveyed in an outfeed stream, comprising a first conveyor for conveying the infeed stream, a second conveyor, a third conveyor for conveying the outfeed stream, a first transfer means for rearranging the articles of the infeed stream and transferring them onto the second conveyor whereby to increase the maximum rate at which a second transfer means is operable to engage selected ones of those articles on the second conveyor and to transfer the selected articles into said one or more carton in the outfeed stream

0019Preferably, the apparatus further comprises a feed of closure means for closing said one or more cartons once those carton have been fully loaded with articles and wherein the second transfer means is operable engage one or more of said closure means and to apply the closure means so-engaged to said one ore more cartons

0020Preferably, the second transfer means is operable to transfer articles from the second conveyor into said one ore more cartons to form a first tier of articles in that carton and to engage one or more additional selections of articles from the second conveyor and to dispose that one or more additional selections of articles in said one or more cartons as a successive tiers of articles

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0021Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: <ul id="ul0001" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li><figref idref="f0001">FIGURE 1</figref>. is a schematic view from above of an apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; and</li><li><figref idref="f0002">FIGURE 2</figref>. illustrates another preferred embodiment of the invention.</li></ul>

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

0022The present invention provides, in preferred embodiments, an apparatus as illustrated in <figref idref="f0001">Figures 1</figref> and <figref idref="f0002">2</figref> of the accompanying drawings. The apparatus comprises three conveyors 4, 6, 8 for conveying articles, and two transfer stations 9, 14 for transferring articles between the conveyors 4, 6, 8, as is described in more detail below.

0023A first conveyor 4 forms an infeed to the apparatus 2, and conveys articles A to form an infeed stream 5 of articles. The infeed stream 5 in the illustrated embodiment comprises irregularly or randomly arranged articles A. By this it is meant that the specific position &amp; angular orientation of each article relative to the conveyor 4 is not pre-organised or ordered. The articles A placed onto the first conveyor 4 (which, in this illustrated embodiment is a rotating belt) are scattered along the belt with no uniform pitch or spacing and no uniform angular orientation. As these articles A are conveyed upon the first conveyor 4, in the infeed stream 5, they enter into a working reach 10 of a first transfer means 9 (best shown in <figref idref="f0002">Figure 2</figref>).

0024The first transfer means 9 serves to engage articles A from the infeed stream 5, to transfer those articles A so-engaged off of the first conveyor 4 and to move them transversely of the first conveyor 4 and the infeed stream 5 over to the second conveyor 6, upon which they are then deposited. In this context, "transverse" does not necessarily mean that the articles are transferred at exact right angles to the flow of the infeed stream, but rather that the transfer takes place between the two conveyors 4, 6 within the working reach of the first transfer means 9. Thus the transfer of the articles can contain a directional component parallel to the infeed stream 5, and can also contain a vertical directional component where the articles A are lifted to some degree upwardly from their initial position (for example, to clear and obstruction).

0025The articles A so-deposited upon the second conveyor 6 are conveyed by that conveyor 6 to form a second stream 13 of articles. As shown in <figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref>, the articles A are deposited upon the second conveyor 6 such that they form a second stream 13 of articles, such that the second stream 13 is a stream of regularly arranged articles or that of articles in which they are arranged in an organized fashion. Preferably, this regular arrangement is in the form of a contiguous arrangement, in which each article A substantially contacts a portion of its adjacent neighbour. The second stream 13 has three lanes of articles in the illustrated example, but in other embodiments, can have one or more lanes of articles, formed by disposing a desired number of articles A upon the second conveyor 6 side-by-side transverse to the flow of the second stream 13. In an alternative embodiment, the articles A may be arranged on the second conveyor 6 such that they form one or more rows of spaced groups of articles A, wherein each group consists of articles arranged in a m x n configuration where "m" and "n" each denotes a positive integer.

0026It is contemplated that the first transfer means 9 may take the form of one or more individual automated pick and place tools such as those illustrated in <figref idref="f0002">Figure 2</figref>. Each tool has one or more articulated arms, each operable to position a gripping element over a selected article, (in this case an article A on the first conveyor 4), engage that selected article (by means, for example, of a control unit that incorporates a sensing means such as a camera, or which in some other manner tracks the location of the articles), and transfer the engaged article over to a desired location. Coupled with sensors and a control apparatus, the first transfer means 9 can engage an article whilst it is in motion by moving the articulated arms as the articles A are engaged. Similarly, the desired location to which the engaged articles A are transferred to may also be in motion by, for example, monitoring its position with one or more sensors and using a controller to update the position of the desired transfer location accordingly. The control apparatus may be integrated with the or each tool, or be an entirely discrete unit that is coupled to the or each tool. <figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref> illustrates a schematic view where two such tools are employed (see the working reaches 10), whereas <figref idref="f0002">Figure 2</figref> illustrates an arrangement wherein four such tools are provided. The number of tools may depend largely upon the desired throughput speed of articles along the first conveyor 4, wherein the number of tools is chosen to provide sufficient capacity for moving articles A from the first conveyor 4 to the second conveyor 6 to ensure that the desired arrangement of articles A on the second conveyor 6 is achieved, without undesirable gaps being left in the second stream of articles 13 on the second conveyor 6. Preferably, the number of tools is chosen also such that all the articles A initially disposed on the first conveyor 4 are successfully transferred from that first conveyor 4 to the second conveyor 6, without allowing any articles A to reach the end of the first conveyor 4. The exact number of the tools is not a limiting feature of the invention, and it is to be understood that, based on the foregoing considerations, the appropriate number of tools is a function of the desired rate of transfer of articles A onto the second conveyor 6.

0027Each tool will preferably comprise a gripper 7 that is operable to engage the articles A through some means such as, amongst others, suction, or by mechanically grasping the articles A. Preferably, the first tool that is reached by the flow of the infeed stream 5 transfers as many of the articles A that are within its working reach as possible onto the second conveyor 6. Any remaining articles A on the first conveyor 4 that exit the working reach of this first tool then enter the working reach of a second tool (where provided), and this second tool will undertake to transfer as many of these remaining articles A as possible onto the second conveyor 6. Depending on the desired throughput of articles A, this may then be repeated with a third, fourth etc tool being employed to transfer the decreasing population of articles A remaining on the first conveyor 4.

0028A sensing apparatus is preferably employed, such as a machine vision apparatus, to control the individual tools, such that each article A from the infeed array or infeed stream 5 that is picked up by a tool of the first transfer means 9 is orientated to ensure that it is angular position matches the required angular orientation of the second stream 13 of articles A. Each article A is then deposited on the second conveyor 6 in a position that matches a pitch of the second stream of articles 13. As such, the articles are disposed in regular positions on the second conveyor 6. This ensures the placement of articles A on the second conveyor avoids collisions between articles A already on the second conveyor 6 and ensures that any empty pitches in the arrangement of articles on the second conveyor 6 are filled before the second stream o13 of articles A thereby created moves out of the working reach 10 of the last tool of the first transfer means 9. If the desired second stream 13 is a contiguous stream of articles, the tools will be controlled such that there is no space between successive articles in the second stream 13. As illustrated in <figref idref="f0002">Figure 2</figref>, the second stream 13 of articles A on the second conveyor 6 is a uniform ordered stream of articles A arranged in matching orientations and positioned in discrete and measured pitches. The second stream 13 of articles A comprises three lanes of ordered articles that is created by building up the second stream 13 of articles A one article A at a time from the randomly scattered infeed stream 5. Each article A of the infeed stream 5 is picked and, if necessary, rotated to ensure its angular orientation is "square" and then deposited in an empty pitch of the second stream 13. It will be seen from <figref idref="f0002">Figure 2</figref>, that whereas the second stream 13 is a 3 x n article array, the stream is not necessarily created by the first tool depositing articles in sequentially positioned pitches, but rather, based upon factors such as: the closeness of empty pitches; the amount of rotation of picked up articles; the original orientation and position of the articles in the infeed stream 5 (as mere examples), the first tool fills empty pitches if the second stream 13. This building up of a completely full second stream 13 of articles A is not necessarily uniform and sequential.

0029The second conveyor 6 is disposed substantially or perfectly parallel to the first conveyor 4, and preferably extends beyond a terminal downstream end thereof. Part of the second conveyor 6 passes through a working reach 16 of a second transfer means 14 (best shown in <figref idref="f0002">Figure 2</figref>). The width of the second conveyor 6 being sufficient to accommodate the desired number of lanes of articles A, as dictated in part by the desired number of rows of articles A of each resulting packaged group of articles discussed below.

0030The second transfer means 14 is operable to engage with one or more articles A from the second stream 13, and to transfer those articles A over to a third conveyor 8. In the illustrated embodiment of <figref idref="f0002">Figure 2</figref>, the second transfer means 14 comprises a single robotic manipulator that preferably comprises a gripper for engaging with multiple articles A from the second stream 13 simultaneously, and transferring that group of articles A over to the third conveyor 8. It is contemplated that, amongst other options, the aforementioned gripper might take form of numerous suction heads (not shown) that engage articles through suction, or a mechanical gripper arrangement that physically grasps portions of the articles A.

0031The third conveyor 8 is disposed substantially or perfectly parallel to the second conveyor 6, proximate a terminal downstream end thereof. The third conveyor 8 accepts successive cartons C that have been partially set up by some means, such that they are ready to be loaded with articles A before being closed. The third conveyor 8 conveys these cartons C so as to form a stream of cartons 11 that acts as an outfeed stream from the apparatus 2, which stream 11 may pass the cartons C on to subsequent packaging operations.

0032It is envisaged that the third conveyor 8 may have a drive means that is independent of the first and second conveyors 4, 6 (which preferably each have a separate drive means of their own or, alternatively, may share a drive means), such that it may be operable to stop the motion of the stream of cartons 11 without interfering with the motion of the infeed stream 5 or the second stream 13. This functionality might be required if the transfer of articles A from the second conveyor 6 into the cartons C could not be achieved whilst the cartons are in motion. Furthermore, it is contemplated that the articles A may be layered in two or more tiers in the cartons C, which may therefore necessitate that the cartons C be stopped whilst the multiple layers of articles A are successively stacked therewithin. The stopping of the cartons C is avoided where unless multiple transfer means are employed to undertake the positioning of the different tiers of articles A, or where the second transfer means 14 is operable at a sufficient rate to transfer the necessary number of tiers and, if required, tier separator members, whilst the cartons C are constantly conveyed through a working reach 16 of the second transfer means 14. It is also possible that the second transfer means 14 is moveable alongside the third conveyor 8 such that the second transfer means 14 may transfer articles in to the cartons C without there being any relative horizontal movement between them. This could, for example, be achieved by slidably mounting the second transfer means 14 for movement substantially parallel to the second 6 and/or third 8 conveyors.

0033Once the cartons C are fully loaded with articles A, it may be desirable that the cartons be closed by a separate closure portion 20 such as a carton lid or similar. This may be undertaken by the second transfer means 14 whilst the loaded cartons remain stationary in the working reach 16 of the second transfer means 14. The second transfer means 14 is operable to select a closure portion 20 from a suitable feed of such closure portions (not shown) and to position that closure portion over the or each carton C as required. In the exemplary embodiment shown, three such closure portions 20 are being simultaneously manipulated by the second transfer means 14 so as to close three loaded cartons C at the same time. Suitable means of feeding closure portions 20 to the second transfer means 14 could be, for example, a conveyor, or a magazine/hopper as examples.

0034The exact geometry of the cartons C will dictate the features of the second transfer means 14. If the cartons C are deep sided, perhaps so as to accommodate multiple layers of articles, it will be necessary to provide a second transfer means 14 having a relatively large robotic arm that is capable of being guided between the side walls of the deep sided carton in a substantially vertical direction to avoid fouling, and thus potentially damaging, the carton C.

0035The desired output rate of filled cartons C, limited by the available infeed rate of articles A, will determine how many robotic arms form the second transfer means 14. Alternatively or additionally the second transfer means 14 could be adapted so as to engage more articles A at the same time. The gripper 7 of the robotic arm 9, for example, may be exchanged to vary the number of articles A that can be simultaneously engaged.

0036In the illustrated embodiment, the first and second conveyors 4, 6 are operated to convey the infeed stream 5 and the second stream 13 in directions D1 and D2 respectively, which directions are substantially parallel and co-directional with one another. The third conveyor 8, however, is controlled to convey the stream of cartons 11 in a parallel, but opposing direction D3. Once the cartons C have been loaded with articles A by the second transfer means 14, they exit the apparatus in direction D4 which may, amongst other angles, be at right angles to the direction of the stream of cartons 11. In this manner, the size of the apparatus 2 is minimised.

0037By employing the first transfer means 9 to engage articles A originally disposed in the infeed stream 5 in a first arrangement, and disposing those articles A in the second stream 13 in a second arrangement, the apparatus is operable to enhance the rate at which the articles A may be transferred onto the third conveyor 8. For example, the aforesaid second arrangement is preferably a regularly, and optionally contiguous, arrangement that allows the second transfer means to engage a greater number of articles at the same time than would have been possible had the articles remained in the irregular first arrangement. In this manner, it is envisaged that the apparatus advantageously utilises the speed and accuracy of the first transfer means 9 to organise the articles A, and the long working reach of the second transfer means 14 to arrive at a beneficial synergy, thereby to enhance the speed at which the articles A may be loaded into the cartons C.

0038In an alternative mode of operation, the third conveyor 8 may be controlled so as to convey a stream of cartons 11 in a direction that is substantially or perfectly co-directional with the directions D1 and D2 of the infeed stream 5 and second stream 13. This would require the cartons to be fed onto the third conveyor 8 from a different end thereof. Similarly, either or both the directions of travel D1 and D2 of the infeed stream 5 and second stream 13 could be altered in terms of both speed and direction, as necessary, as long as the first and second transfer means have sufficient time to accomplish their respective article ordering and transfer roles.

0039A further alternative that is contemplated is that the cartons C take the form of end loading cartons (not shown) that are filled with articles through a lateral displacement thereof, into a proximate open end of the carton. This would require the second transfer means 14 to be controlled to push the articles A off of an edge of the second conveyor 6 and into that open end. This could, of course, be done in a manner so as to fill multiple cartons C simultaneously.

0040Another alternative to the operation of the apparatus described above could be that the second conveyor 6 be intermittently stopped as necessary, for example to ensure that the articles A disposed on the second conveyor 6 by the first transfer means 9 are contiguous with one another.

0041References to carton in the above description relate to all forms of packaging items including specifically, though not exclusively, boxes, carriers, wraparounds, grippers and jackets.

0042It will be recognized that as used herein, directional references such as "top", "bottom", "front", "back", "end", "side", "inner", "outer", "upper" and "lower" do not limit the respective features to such orientation, but merely serve to distinguish these features from one another.