DEVICE AND METHOD FOR HANDLING PIECE GOODS MOVED IN AT LEAST THREE ROWS

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for handling piece goods moved in at least three parallel rows, having the features of independent claim 1. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for handling piece goods moved in at least three parallel rows, having the features of independent method claim 8.

[0002] In known processes for packaging and / or palletizing piece goods such as packages, bundles, or the like, these are first conveyed on in-line conveyors and then appropriately shifted, aligned, and / or assembled to create the desired layer patterns, which can then be stacked multiple times on top of one another, for example, on specially prepared pallets. These processing steps can be particularly useful in systems for processing beverage containers. The piece goods in question can be, for example, packages, crates, cartons, bundles, or other clusters. To ensure that the aforementioned pallets are safe for transport, the assembled layer patterns, also referred to as assembled cycles, must meet certain requirements.Traditionally, preparatory measures are necessary to create such cycles, which may involve grouping or collecting the piece goods, which are initially transported regularly or step by step on a so-called allocation belt, on an intermediate conveyor belt in order to transfer them from there, collected and / or grouped, to a layer formation belt or a layer formation table.

[0003] It is known from the prior art to transfer piece goods individually from a distribution belt to a conveyor belt. This means that individual piece goods are transferred from the distribution belt to the conveyor belt. This transfer can take place by transferring each individual piece of goods to the conveyor belt using a speed difference between the distribution belt and the conveyor belt. This control can be provided using optical sensors such as light barriers. It is also conceivable to transfer the piece goods individually from the conveyor belt by conveying them step by step along the layer forming belt. In order to transfer individual piece goods from the conveyor belt to the layer forming belt in this way, the layer forming belt can be moved in synchronized steps with the conveyor belt by exactly one length of one piece of goods in the direction of transport. These cycles or groupings orParts of the grouped piece goods can also be rotated depending on the desired layer formation and then transferred to the layer formation belt.

[0004] The state of the art provides various design variants for the design of grouping tables used to bring together piece goods such as cartons, shrink packs, trays or plastic crates. For example, piece goods can be brought together by arranging them in a two-dimensional formation (block formation, e.g. pallet layer). For this purpose, a roller conveyor can be supplied linearly from one aisle or from several aisles. The piece goods can be rotated in front of or on the roller conveyor as required and mechanically arranged on the roller conveyor using stop points in the required position. The piece goods positioned in this way can then be pushed off the roller conveyor orthogonal to the direction of transport. The infeed, arrangement and pushing off of the piece goods can be viewed as a single cycle.At least one such cycle is required to assemble a layer; however, several such cycles are usually necessary to form a layer. The partially discontinuous conveying, with its relatively abrupt changes in speed and direction, leads to correspondingly high mechanical stresses on the piece goods, which can be detrimental to gentle product processing.

[0005] Document EP 1 456 101 A2 discloses a device for forming rows of packaged goods for bundle palletizers. The bundle palletizer comprises at least one layer-forming station and at least one palletizing station. The row-forming device comprises at least one positioning station, on which the packaged goods are arranged in at least one row with desired spacing during transport. The positioning station is connected to a supply conveyor assigned to the layer-forming station. At least one accumulating conveyor is arranged upstream of the positioning station, wherein the positioning station has several conveyor sections arranged one behind the other in the transport direction and equipped with controllable and adjustable drives. With the controllable and adjustable drives, it is possible to achieve the desired spacing of the packaged goods.The row-forming device has at least one monitoring device for determining and monitoring the spacing of the packaged goods. The design of this known row-forming device is relatively complex and complicated, especially since it requires a large number of belts for spacing and / or rotating the packaged goods.

[0006] Suitable manipulators or robots assigned to the layer formation belts can, for example, be designed as multi-axis robots, as are known, for example, from DE 10 2009 026 220 A1 in connection with the grouping of articles or beverage containers. A frequently used variant of such manipulators are so-called gantry robots, which are often used in a modular design in packaging lines, in grouping units or in palletizing stations. The means of transport or conveying element often used is a conveyor belt running horizontally in the longitudinal direction of the conveying plane or another continuously circulating medium, on which the articles and / or packaging are arranged in predetermined positions or in randomly assumed positions. A module of this type is known, for example, from DE 10 2009 043 970 A1. The gantry robots typically used in such modules can, for example,be equipped with gripping devices for lateral gripping of the piece goods to be handled and manipulated, as known, for example, from DE 10 2010 020 847 A1.

[0007] WO 2014 / 110349 A1 discloses optical monitoring devices that are used to control a handling robot for detecting and positioning piece goods in connection with their transport, positioning, and / or stacking. However, this requires continuous control based on the optical detection of the piece goods, which requires significant computing and control effort.

[0008] DE 602 00 953 T2 discloses a method and system for the automatic and continuous production of layers of sales units prior to palletizing. The layers are formed using robots, whose precise positioning is specified by incremental encoders assigned to the conveyor systems for the sales units. However, with such couplings using incremental encoders, there is a risk that inaccurate positioning of piece goods can result in deviations in the allocation. Furthermore, incorrect positioning of piece goods can accumulate, so that additional measures for precise movement control of the robots may be necessary.

[0009] The published patent application EP 2 246 277 A2 relates to a device and a method for the defined merging of packages, in which the packages are conveyed end-to-end on at least one discharge conveyor for further processing or handling. In particular, EP 2 246 277 A2 discloses a device for handling piece goods moved in at least three parallel rows, comprising: at least two independently controllable and movable manipulators for piece goods, at least three transport devices arranged parallel to one another, via which the moved piece goods can be transported in a transport direction to detection areas of the at least two manipulators, wherein the detection areas of the at least two manipulators are arranged at least one parallel horizontal conveyor device which is aligned with the transport devices and which transports the piece goods which reach the detection areas and are rotated and / or shifted there by means of the manipulators in the transport direction.

[0010] The document DE 10 2013 202 872 A1 describes a method and a device for aligning and / or grouping a number of piece goods and / or containers transported one behind the other in at least one row, which are transported in a horizontal direction to a movement space, where each individual piece goods or containers to be moved is contacted and displaced and / or rotated on at least one side surface by means of a manipulation device that is movable and / or rotatable at least in the horizontal direction.

[0011] The primary goal of all these known handling systems is to precisely position piece goods, packages, bundles, and / or articles for the most trouble-free and reliable layering, palletizing, and / or packaging preparation possible. A secondary goal, which is becoming increasingly important, is to reduce cycle times without compromising the level of precision and / or reliability already achieved.

[0012] In view of the known state of the art, the aim of the present invention can be considered to enable precise and positionally accurate, and in particular rapid, processing and handling of piece goods that are conveyed or transported in at least three rows. The motion control of at least two parallel-arranged and essentially parallel-operating manipulators for detecting the piece goods should be precisely coordinated with the position of the delivered piece goods, without requiring significant computing and / or control effort. Alternatively and / or additionally, the position of the delivered piece goods should be adjusted to ensure precise and positionally accurate processing and handling of piece goods.

[0013] Furthermore, the process should be able to run at high speed without compromising positioning precision and / or reliability of the handling of the piece goods. The corresponding device should be able to operate quickly and with minimal computational and / or control effort for controlling the movement of the manipulators, while maintaining high reliability and consistently high positioning precision.

[0014] These objects of the invention are achieved by the subject matter of the independent claims, i.e., by a device for handling piece goods moved in at least two parallel rows and by a method for handling piece goods moved in at least two parallel rows, which comprise the features of independent claims 1 and 9. Features of advantageous developments of the invention emerge from the respective dependent claims.

[0015] The invention relates to a device according to claim 1 and a method according to claim 8 for handling piece goods moved in at least three parallel rows. The piece goods are transported via at least three transport devices arranged parallel to one another in at least three rows in one transport direction to at least one detection zone of at least two independently controllable and movable manipulators. According to the invention, each of the two manipulators is assigned its own detection zone and / or movement space. In some cases, it may be expedient for the at least two detection zones of the at least two manipulators to overlap at least partially.

[0016] At least three parallel horizontal conveyors are assigned to the detection areas of the at least two manipulators, which convey the piece goods entering the detection areas and then rotated and / or shifted there by the manipulators in the transport direction. In particular, it is provided that each horizontal conveyor is aligned with a transport device.

[0017] Furthermore, at least one optical detection device for obtaining spatial coordinates and / or position and / or outline data of at least one piece of goods of the at least three rows moved in the transport direction is assigned to the at least two detection areas and / or movement spaces of the at least two manipulators.

[0018] The at least one optical detection device supplies corresponding spatial coordinates and / or position and / or outline data to a control and / or evaluation unit, on the basis of which the manipulators and / or the at least three transport devices arranged parallel to one another and / or the at least three parallel horizontal conveyor devices and / or other conveyor components of the device can be calibrated and / or controlled.

[0019] If, in the context of this description, reference is made at some points to a method, a method variant, the method according to the invention, or the like, this generally refers to the aforementioned method for handling moving piece goods. This preferably relates to a method for handling piece goods moved in at least three rows one behind the other. If, in the context of this description, reference is made at some points to a device, a handling device, a device variant, the device according to the invention, or the like, this generally refers to the aforementioned device for handling moving piece goods, in particular for handling piece goods moved in at least three rows one behind the other.

[0020] When the following description, the description passages relating to the exemplary embodiments, the claims, and / or in connection with the entire description and / or drawing disclosure refer to the handling of piece goods, this includes handling, detection, positioning, movement in space, rotation, alignment, etc., particularly in connection with a manipulator and / or movable parts of the manipulator that are arranged in a detection space or detection area and can move there within definable limits. However, the term "handling" equally includes positioning, conveying, and / or all types of handling steps that occur in connection with conveyor systems, horizontal conveyor systems, conveyor belts, etc.can take place which are part of the device according to the invention and / or are operatively connected and / or in a transport connection therewith, whether these are downstream, upstream or integrated parts of the device according to the invention in the transport and / or conveying direction.

[0021] When reference is made to an unchanged or new orientation of the piece goods after their grasping and / or handling, this refers, in the context of the device and method described here, in particular to the angular orientation of the piece goods previously grasped and moved and / or shifted and / or rotated by the manipulator. In this context, grasping usually means the physical, positive and / or force-locking and / or clamping gripping of a piece goods item or several piece goods simultaneously, as well as their handling until a target position and / or target orientation is reached.

[0022] According to a preferred embodiment, the moved piece goods can be articles, packages, container assemblies, bundles, cartons, or similar items moved in at least three rows one behind the other. For example, it can be provided that a plurality of identical or different articles are combined into a bundle or mixed bundle by means of cardboard packaging, one or more strappings, film packaging, or the like. Furthermore, a plurality of beverage containers, which are held together, for example, by shrink packaging, one or more strapping bands, can each form a piece of goods within the meaning of the present definition. The piece goods moved in three parallel rows one behind the other can be of the same or different designs depending on the requirements of downstream handling devices.

[0023] The piece goods can be transported in different ways within the at least three rows. According to one embodiment of the invention, the piece goods within the rows are each transported via a corresponding transport device, spaced apart from one another and separated by gaps, to the detection areas of the at least two manipulators of the device according to the invention. Preferably, groups of piece goods can also be fed to the detection areas of the at least two manipulators, wherein these groups can each comprise several, in particular at least two, at least largely seamlessly adjacent piece goods within the at least three rows. The groups can also be of different sizes; moreover, a group of two, three, or four seamlessly adjacent piece goods can be followed by a single piece goods, etc.A further embodiment provides that the piece goods are fed within the at least three rows without spacing or with minimal spacing as a continuous or closed formation.

[0024] In this context, a closed formation is understood in particular to mean a row of piece goods transported one behind the other in an endless formation, which has no interruption or only minimal interruptions between the piece goods and can comprise any number of piece goods. In the closed formation, the piece goods can in particular be transported end to end. This is caused, for example, by a single dynamic pressure applied from behind. The dynamic pressure is preferably generated in front of or shortly before the detection areas of at least two manipulators of the handling device. Alternatively, it can be provided that at least a slight dynamic pressure acts permanently on the piece goods from behind.The closed formation must be distinguished from an interrupted formation, in which groups each with a defined number of piece goods are fed one after the other, whereby the groups each comprise the same number of piece goods or a different number of piece goods and are separated from each other by gaps.

[0025] The at least three transport devices of the device, which are arranged parallel to one another, can each be formed, for example, by a horizontal conveyor, in particular a horizontal conveyor belt. On each of the at least three transport devices, the piece goods are fed in a row to a grouping module. From the three transport devices, the piece goods are transferred to three parallel horizontal conveyor devices, each of which is aligned with the transport devices. The at least three horizontal conveyor devices and the at least two manipulators with their respective detection areas form, in particular, the grouping module of the device. The horizontal conveyor devices can each be formed by a conveyor belt or similar.The at least three horizontal conveyor devices together form a horizontal conveyor surface on which the incoming piece goods are detected by the manipulators of the device within a detection area, brought into a target position and / or target orientation and, in particular, also released.

[0026] A particularly preferred embodiment provides that the piece goods are moved via four parallel transport devices in four parallel rows into the grouping module and in particular to the detection areas of the at least two manipulators. Within the grouping module, they are transported further on four parallel horizontal conveyor devices, each of which is aligned with the four parallel transport devices. Within the grouping module, individual piece goods or groups of piece goods are detected from the rows by the at least two manipulators and moved to a target position and / or target arrangement within the grouping module.

[0027] It can be provided that the at least three transport devices and / or the at least three horizontal conveyor devices can each be controlled individually. In particular, each of the at least three parallel transport devices and / or the at least three parallel horizontal conveyor devices is assigned a separate and / or separately controllable drive. However, it is preferably provided that the transport devices and / or the respectively aligned horizontal conveyor devices move or are moved synchronously.

[0028] The detection zone within the meaning of the present invention defines, in particular, a respective movement space of a manipulator of the device according to the invention. The at least two manipulators are typically and / or preferably designed for clamping and / or positive-locking and / or force-locking detection and / or acceptance of at least one piece of goods from at least one of the at least three rows of consecutively transported piece goods entering the detection zone of the manipulator by means of the at least three transport devices. Furthermore, the manipulators are designed for separating and selectively transferring the at least one detected piece of goods into a target position and / or target orientation.

[0029] According to one embodiment, at least two clamping and / or gripping means arranged opposite one another, in particular in pairs, can be assigned to each of the manipulators, which clamp and / or gripping means can be positioned opposite one another and can be moved relative to one another. These clamping and / or gripping means cooperate with one another, in particular in pairs, for clamping and / or force-fitting and / or form-fitting gripping, as well as for separating and selectively transferring the respective piece goods to the target positions and / or target orientations. The clamping and / or gripping means of the manipulators are preferably aligned parallel to the transport direction of the incoming piece goods during gripping of the piece goods.

[0030] From the moved piece goods of at least one of the at least three rows, in particular from the piece goods supplied individually, in groups or as a closed formation, at least one transported piece goods is clamped and / or force-locked and / or form-locked by the respective manipulator in the detection area of ​​at least one of the manipulators, spatially separated from the following piece goods of the respective row and brought into a defined relative target position and / or target orientation with respect to the following piece goods of the respective row.Simultaneously or at a different time, at least one piece of goods from another of the at least three rows is gripped by the at least one other manipulator in a clamping and / or force-locking and / or form-locking manner, spatially separated from the subsequent piece goods in the respective row, and brought into a defined relative target position and / or target orientation with respect to the subsequent piece goods in the respective row. This occurs, in particular, in a continuous process in which the supply of subsequent piece goods is not interrupted but continues continuously.

[0031] After being moved to their respective defined target position, the piece goods are released by the respective manipulator's at least two opposing clamping and / or gripping devices. The clamping and / or gripping devices, which can be moved relative to each other, allow for rapid gripping, moving, positioning, and release of the piece goods at the desired speed and with the desired positioning precision. Other manipulators can also be advantageously used, for example, those designed as multi-axis robots, as parts of such multi-axis robots, as parallel kinematic robots, as delta kinematic robots or so-called tripods, or as manipulators forming part of a delta kinematic robot or parallel kinematic robot.

[0032] The sensor technology required for this purpose is provided by at least one optical detection device spatially and / or functionally assigned to the detection area and / or a movement space of the at least two manipulators. This serves to detect the above-mentioned data, i.e. in particular the at least spatial coordinates and / or position and / or outline data of a moving piece of goods or even just its current leading edge position or outline position of an assigned one of the at least three rows. According to the invention, the at least one optical detection device is designed to be movable at least temporarily parallel to the at least three horizontal conveyor devices assigned to the detection area.

[0033] At least one of the manipulators and / or the transport devices and / or the horizontal conveyor devices and / or other conveyor components of the device are calibrated and / or controlled by a control and / or evaluation unit on the basis of the determined spatial coordinates and / or position and / or outline data. Furthermore, the determined data can also be used to provide feedback on the position of the movable optical detection device. For example, the detection of a spatial coordinate or of corresponding position and / or outline data can trigger activation or deactivation of the optical detection device, trigger the optical detection device to be carried along with one of the at least three transport devices and / or one of the at least three horizontal conveyor devices, or similar. As soon as deviations in the container dimensions and / or the conveyor speed or similar occur, the data can be used to determine the correct position for all subsequent cycles orManipulation steps, for example the movement sequence of one of the manipulators, can be corrected.

[0034] For example, one optical detection device can be provided for each transport device, i.e., the device comprises at least three optical detection devices. These are preferably arranged on the outer longitudinal sides of the horizontal conveying surface formed by the at least three horizontal conveying devices, parallel to the transport direction, in or against the transport direction. In particular, at least two of the at least three optical detection devices are arranged in the region of one longitudinal side of the horizontal conveying surface. The at least one third detection device, in contrast, can be arranged in the region of the opposite longitudinal side of the horizontal conveying surface.

[0035] The two detection devices arranged in a region of a longitudinal side of the horizontal conveyor surface can each be moved independently of each other via their own drive. Alternatively, the two detection devices can be coupled to a common linear drive and, in particular, can only be moved together. If at least two optical detection devices are motion-linked, it can be advantageous to activate them alternately in order to obtain clean signal separation and correct position data for the foremost piece goods in the at least two rows assigned to the optical detection devices.

[0036] In particular, it is thus provided that the optical detection devices are each movably arranged at the edge of the horizontal conveyor surface. The optical detection device assigned to an outer horizontal conveyor device is therefore located directly adjacent to the associated outer horizontal conveyor device, while the optical detection device assigned to an inner horizontal conveyor device is located at a significant distance from the associated inner horizontal conveyor device. In particular, at least one outer horizontal conveyor device is arranged between the inner horizontal conveyor device and the associated optical detection device.

[0037] Each of the optical detection devices covers a different detection area on the horizontal conveyor surface; in particular, the respective detection area is assigned to exactly one of the at least three horizontal conveyor devices.

[0038] The detection of piece goods by the manipulators and the detection of data by the movable optical detection devices is described in the applications with the file numbers DE 10 2016 213 400.0, DE 10 2016 124 250.0, DE 10 2017 123 558.2 and DE 10 2017 123 563.9, the disclosure of which is included in the description and is to be regarded as part of this application.

[0039] The device and method are used in particular to arrange piece goods—for example, six-packs and four-packs—according to a predefined layering pattern, thus preparing them for subsequent palletizing, or to distribute the piece goods across a different number of onward transport lanes, rotating them by 90 degrees if necessary. In this case, the grouping module assumes the function of a so-called rotation and distribution system.

[0040] At least one of the optical detection devices is formed, for example, by at least one edge scanner, in particular a laser edge scanner, which supplies a control and / or evaluation unit of the device with spatial coordinates and / or position and / or outline data for a moving piece of goods. An edge scanner can capture detailed position data, such as an inclination and / or other incorrect positioning of one of the piece of goods, which can be corrected if necessary during capture by the respective manipulator. For example, such an edge scanner is used to obtain spatial coordinates and / or position and / or outline data for the piece of goods located at the front and / or for a contour edge pointing forward or backward in the transport direction of a row assigned to the optical detection device.

[0041] According to a further embodiment, at least one optical detection device is a camera with downstream image evaluation, from whose data the control and / or evaluation unit obtains spatial coordinates and / or position and / or outline values ​​for a moving piece of goods, in particular spatial coordinates and / or position and / or outline values ​​for the piece of goods located at the front in each case and / or its forward- or rearward-facing outline edge of a row assigned to the optical detection device.

[0042] The optical detection devices or sensor devices mentioned are to be understood as examples. However, other sensor variants can also be used, such as ultrasonic sensors or the like. Other suitable sensors can also be advantageously employed by those skilled in the art.

[0043] The manipulators are further coupled to the control and / or evaluation unit. The control and / or evaluation unit of the device generally controls, for example, the movement of the manipulators and / or other machine components of the device. Preferably, the control and / or evaluation unit contains stored information about a grouping to be formed from a plurality of piece goods for a palletizable layer, wherein the respective target positions and / or target orientations of the piece goods form part of the information and assign the respective piece goods a specific position and / or relative orientation within the respective grouping.

[0044] An important aspect of the invention is that in the case of a multi-row piece goods feed, in particular in the case of a feed in at least three rows, the piece goods of the at least one middle row are preferably detected by at least one optical detection device which is movable parallel to the transport direction or counter to the transport direction and which is movably arranged on a longitudinal side of the horizontal conveying surface, so that the optical detection device does not intervene in the movement sequence of the at least two manipulators.

[0045] The invention further relates to a method for handling piece goods moved in at least three parallel rows, which has already been described in detail in connection with the device for handling piece goods moved in at least three parallel rows. Alternatively or in addition to the described features, the method may comprise one or more features and / or properties of the device and the various device variants described in detail above. Likewise, the device may alternatively or additionally comprise one or more features and / or properties of the described method.

[0046] In the following, exemplary embodiments will explain the invention and its advantages in more detail with reference to the accompanying figures. The relative sizes of the individual elements in the figures do not always correspond to the actual sizes, as some shapes are simplified and others are enlarged relative to other elements for better illustration. Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of a device for handling piece goods moved in at least three rows. Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment of a device for handling piece goods moved in at least three rows.

[0047] Identical reference numerals are used for identical or equivalently functioning elements of the invention. For the sake of clarity, only those reference numerals are shown in the individual figures that are necessary for the description of the respective figure. The illustrated embodiments merely represent examples of how the device and method according to the invention can be configured and do not represent an exhaustive limitation.

[0048] The schematic top view of the Fig. 1shows a first embodiment of a device 10 for handling piece goods (not shown) moved in at least three rows. In particular, piece goods are fed to the grouping module 20 of the device 10 via four transport devices 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d in four rows. The piece goods are, for example, packages comprising a plurality of beverage containers, which are held together, for example, with shrink packaging.

[0049] The handling device 10 comprises four parallel first transport devices 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, via which preferably directly successive piece goods are transported in four parallel rows in the transport direction TR without interruption and / or at a substantially continuous transport speed v3 into the detection area 4 of the two movable, displaceable and / or rotatable manipulators 5a, 5b of the handling device 10. In particular, it is provided that the two parallel transport devices 3a, 3b are assigned a detection area 4a of the manipulator 5a and the other two parallel transport devices 3c, 3d are assigned a detection area 4b of the manipulator 5b. In this case, it can be provided that the detection areas 4a, 4b overlap at least in some areas.The transport devices 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d are each formed, for example, by a conveyor belt or other suitable conveying device on which the piece goods are preferably transported in a single row, with preferably no gap or only a slight gap, possibly process-related, between directly consecutive piece goods. The piece goods thus enter the detection area 4a, 4b of the corresponding manipulator 5a, 5b in each of the rows in a so-called closed formation.

[0050] Each of the feeding conveyors 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d is assigned its own drive 16, 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d, so that the conveyors 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d can be controlled independently of one another by the control device 15. Typically, the conveyors 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d are operated at the same constant speed v3; any irregularity in the continuous supply of the piece goods can be corrected by briefly adjusting the respective belt speed.

[0051] In the grouping module 20, four parallel horizontal conveyors 6, 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d are arranged in alignment with the four transport devices 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d and are particularly assigned to the detection areas 4a, 4b of the manipulators 5a, 5b. The four horizontal conveyors 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d together form a horizontal conveying surface 8 for the piece goods. Particularly preferably, the detection area 4a is primarily assigned to the horizontal conveyors 6a and 6b, and the detection area 4b is primarily assigned to the horizontal conveyors 6c and 6d. The piece goods brought in on the first transport device 3a are transferred to the first horizontal conveyor 6a and transported further; the piece goods brought in on the second transport device 3b are transferred to the second horizontal conveyor 6b and transported further, etc.Each of the horizontal conveyors 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d is assigned its own drive 17, 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, so that the horizontal conveyors 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d can be controlled independently of one another and / or independently of the respective supplying transport devices 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d by the control device 15. As a rule, the horizontal conveyors 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d are operated at the same constant speed v6; in the event of an irregularity in the continuous supply of the piece goods 2, this can be corrected, for example, by briefly adjusting the respective belt speed. As a rule, the transport devices 3a, 3b, 3c and / or 3d are each controlled and regulated synchronously with the horizontal conveyor 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d arranged in alignment.

[0052] The manipulators 5a, 5b are designed for the clamping and / or force-fitting and / or form-fitting acceptance of piece goods within the grouping module 20. In particular, the at least two manipulators 5a, 5b arrange the piece goods arriving in at least four rows in a closed formation according to a predetermined layering scheme on the horizontal conveyor 6, with the piece goods being rotated if necessary according to their arrangement within the layering scheme to be created. In this case, it can be provided that a prepared piece goods layer (not shown) is created by each manipulator 5a, 5b. However, it can also be provided that the two manipulators 5a, 5b work together to create the piece goods layer, so that the prepared piece goods layer comprises piece goods from several, in particular all, incoming rows.

[0053] The layer of piece goods prepared in the grouping module 20 is pushed together in a pre-grouping module 22 arranged downstream of the horizontal conveyor devices 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d to form a compact layer, which can then be palletized. In particular, a palletizer (not shown) is arranged downstream of the pre-grouping module 22 in the transport direction TR. To manipulate the piece goods, the manipulators 5a, 5b each comprise, for example, a clamping gripper with two clamping jaws that can be adjusted towards one another, which allow rapid gripping, moving, positioning, lifting and release of the piece goods at the desired speed with the desired positioning precision. For example, the manipulators 5a, 5b can be designed as multi-axis robots, as parts of such multi-axis robots, as parallel kinematic robots, as delta kinematic robots or so-calledTripode or manipulator forming part of a delta kinematic robot or parallel kinematic robot, as described, for example, in the application with the file number DE 10 2016 206 639.0, the content of which is hereby incorporated into this application and the content of which is to be considered as known to the reader of the present application.

[0054] In the grouping module 20, at least one piece of goods or a group or a so-called cycle comprising at least two piece goods from one of the four rows is gripped by one of the manipulators 5a or 5b and moved, lifted, and / or rotated, etc., to form a palletizable layer or a pre-grouping for a palletizable layer. Alternatively, the manipulators 5a, 5b can also serve as a rotation and distribution system to distribute the piece goods arriving in four rows for subsequent processing across more or fewer transport lanes, rotating them by 90° if necessary.

[0055] In order for the manipulator 5a, 5b to be able to correctly grip the respective piece of goods or the respective cycle, it is necessary to know the exact position of the piece of goods within the grouping module 20. The position detection of the piece of goods in each row is carried out with the aid of sensors, in particular preferably movable sensors 40. In particular, it is provided that each horizontal conveyor 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d is assigned a sensor 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d. In particular, the sensors 40a, 40b assigned to the horizontal conveyors 6a, 6b are arranged on the long side of the horizontal conveyor surface 8 parallel to the transport direction TR and directly adjacent to the outer horizontal conveyor 6a, while the sensors 40c, 40d assigned to the horizontal conveyors 6c, 6d are arranged on the opposite long side of the horizontal conveyor surface 8 parallel to the transport direction TR and directly adjacent to the outer horizontal conveyor 6d.

[0056] The at least sensors can, for example, be movably designed and / or arranged light barriers, movably designed and / or arranged laser edge scanners or other suitable movably designed and / or arranged optical detection means which are suitable for optically detecting certain parameters of a piece of goods and / or certain parameters of a cycle of piece goods.

[0057] For example, a total of four movable sensors 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d are provided, wherein the movable sensor 40a is arranged, adjusted, and / or configured such that it detects parameters of the piece goods entering the horizontal conveyor 6a via the outer transport device 3a. The movable sensor 40b is arranged, adjusted, and / or configured such that it detects parameters of the piece goods entering the horizontal conveyor 6b via the inner transport device 3b.The movable sensor 40c is arranged, adjusted, and / or configured such that it detects parameters of the piece goods entering the horizontal conveyor 6c via the inner transport device 3c, and the movable sensor 40d is arranged, adjusted, and / or configured such that it detects parameters of the piece goods entering the horizontal conveyor 6d via the outer transport device 3d. In particular, the sensors 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d each detect the leading edge of a piece of goods (not shown) entering their respective detection zone 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d.

[0058] The sensor-detected data is transmitted to the control device 15, which uses it to calculate a correction to the preprogrammed movement sequence of the manipulators 5a, 5b, for example, if the actual position deviates from a target position. Alternatively and / or additionally, the respective transport devices 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d and / or the respective horizontal conveyor devices 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d can also be controlled and regulated based on the detected data in order to compensate for any determined offset between the actual position of a respective foremost piece of goods and a predefined target position.

[0059] The schematic top view of the Fig. 2shows a second embodiment of a device 10 for handling piece goods moved in four rows. Only the differences to the first embodiment will be discussed below; for an explanation of the other reference numerals, please refer to the description of the figures. Fig. 1 In the second embodiment, it is provided that the layer of piece goods completed within the pre-grouping module 22 can now be shifted orthogonally to the transport direction TR either to the right onto a first palletizer 23 or to the left onto a second palletizer 24 for further processing. Thus, the piece goods layers assembled within the grouping module 20 can be transported away more quickly.

[0060] The embodiments, examples, and variants of the preceding paragraphs, the claims or the following description and the figures, including their various views or respective individual features, may be used independently of one another or in any combination. Features described in connection with one embodiment are applicable to all embodiments, unless the features are incompatible.

[0061] Although in the context of the explanation of the Figures 1 and 2When we generally speak of "schematic" representations and views, this does not in any way mean that the figure representations are of secondary importance with regard to the disclosure of the invention. The person skilled in the art is perfectly capable of deriving sufficient information from the schematic and abstractly drawn representations to facilitate the understanding of the invention, without being impaired in any way by the drawn and possibly not exactly scaled size relationships of the items and / or parts of the device or other drawn elements. The schematic plan views of the Figures 1 and 2thus enable the skilled person as reader to derive a better understanding of the inventive concept formulated in a more general and / or abstract manner in the claims and in the general part of the description on the basis of the more concretely explained implementations of the method according to the invention and the more concretely explained functioning of the device according to the invention.

[0062] Finally, it should be emphasized again at this point that the invention has been described fundamentally with reference to a preferred embodiment or several preferred embodiments. However, it is entirely conceivable for a person skilled in the art that modifications or changes to the invention can be made without departing from the scope of the following claims. List of reference symbols

[0063] 3.3a; 3b, 3c, 3dtransport device 4,4a, 4bdetection area 5,5a, 5bmanipulator 6,6a, 6b, 6c, 6dhorizontal conveyor device 8horizontal conveyor surface 10handling device 15control device 16, 16a, 16b, 16c, 16ddrive transport device 17,17a, 17b, 17c, 17dDrive horizontal conveyor 20Group module 22Pre-grouping module 23First palletizer 24Second palletizer 40; 40a, 40b, 40c, 40dSensor TRTransport direction v3Transport speed v6Speed ​​ / Conveyor speed

Claims

1. An apparatus (10) for handling piece goods being moved in at least three parallel rows, the apparatus (10) comprising - at least two manipulators (5) for piece goods, which manipulators (5) are controllable and movable independently of each other, - at least three transport devices (3) arranged parallel to each other, via which the piece goods being moved are transportable in a transport direction (TR) to seizing ranges (4) of the at least two manipulators (5), - wherein the seizing ranges (4) of the at least two manipulators (5) are assigned at least three parallel horizontal conveyors (6), each of which is aligned with the following transport devices (3), which horizontal conveyors (6) transport the piece goods in transport direction (TR), with the piece goods coming into the seizing ranges (4) and being rotated and / or shifted there by means of the manipulators (5), and - at least one optical detection device (40) assigned to the seizing ranges (4) and / or movement ranges of the at least two manipulators (5), which at least one optical detection device (40) is prepared and equipped for the acquisition of space coordinates and / or position data and / or contour data of at least one piece good of the at least three transport devices (3), the at least one piece good being moved in transport direction (TR), - wherein at least the manipulators (5) and / or the at least three transport devices (3) arranged parallel to each other and / or the at least three parallel horizontal conveyors (6) and / or further conveyor components of the device (10) are calibratable and / or controllable based on the space coordinates and / or position data and / or contour data, - wherein the at least one optical detection device (40) is designed to be at least temporarily movable parallel to the at least three horizontal conveyors (6) assigned to the seizing range (4).

2. The apparatus (10) according to claim 1, in which the piece goods are movable in transport direction (TR) in four parallel rows to the seizing ranges (4) of the at least two manipulators (5), wherein each of these rows is assigned to and / or movable by means of one of four parallel transport devices (3).

3. The device according to claim 2, in which the seizing ranges (4) of the at least two manipulators (5) are assigned four parallel horizontal conveyors (6), each of which is aligned with the four following parallel transport devices (3), which horizontal conveyors (6) transport the piece goods in transport direction (TR), with the piece goods coming into the seizing ranges (4) and being rotated and / or shifted there by means of the manipulators (5).

4. The apparatus according to one of the claims 1 to 3, in which the at least three parallel transport devices (3) are each drivable independently of one another, wherein the at least three parallel transport devices (3) are, in particular, each assigned a separate and / or separately controllable drive (16).

5. The apparatus according to one of the claims 1 to 4, in which the at least three parallel horizontal conveyors (6) are each drivable independently of one another, wherein the at least three parallel horizontal conveyors (6) are, in particular, each assigned a separate and / or separately controllable drive (17).

6. The apparatus according to one of the previous claims, in which one optical detection device (40) is provided for each transport device (3), wherein at least two optical detection devices (40) are arranged so as to be movable parallel to the transport direction (TR) in or against the transport direction (TR) in the area of a longitudinal side of a horizontal conveying surface (8) formed by the at least three horizontal conveyors (6).

7. The apparatus according to one of the previous claims, in which the optical detection device (40) is formed by at least one edge scanner, which delivers space coordinates and / or position data and / or contour data to the control unit and / or analysis unit (12) for a piece good of the particular assigned row, which piece good is being moved, which edge scanner delivers, in particular, space coordinates and / or position data and / or contour data for the in each instance foremost located piece good of the particular assigned row and / or for a contour edge (30) facing forward or backward in transport direction (TR), or in which the optical detection device (40) is formed by at least one camera with downstream image evaluation, from the data of which the control unit and / or analysis unit (12) obtains space coordinates and / or position values and / or contour values for a piece good of the particular assigned row, which piece good is being moved, from the data of which the control unit and / or analysis unit (12) obtains, in particular, space coordinates and / or position values and / or contour values for the in each instance foremost located piece good of the particular assigned row and / or for its contour edge (30) facing forward or backward in transport direction (TR).

8. A method for handling piece goods being moved in at least three parallel rows, wherein the piece goods are transported to seizing ranges (4) of at least two manipulators (5) which are controllable and movable independently of each other, - wherein the seizing ranges (4) of the at least two manipulators (5) are assigned at least three parallel horizontal conveyors (6), each of which is aligned with at least three following parallel transport devices (3), which horizontal conveyors (6) transport the piece goods in transport direction (TR), with the piece goods coming into the seizing ranges (4) and being rotated and / or shifted there by means of the manipulators (5), - wherein in each case at least one transported piece good of the at least three parallel rows is seized in the seizing ranges (4) by one of the at least two manipulators (5), is spatially separated from subsequent piece goods of the particular row, and is brought into a specified relative target position (P) and / or target alignment in relation to the subsequent piece goods of the particular row, - wherein at least space coordinates and / or a position of one of the piece goods of at least one row, which piece good is being moved in transport direction (TR) to the seizing ranges (4), is sensor-detected and provided as position value to a control unit and / or analysis unit (12) by at least one optical detection device (40) that is spatially and / or functionally assigned to the seizing ranges (4), and - wherein at least the manipulators (5) and / or the at least three transport devices (3) arranged parallel to each other and / or the at least three parallel horizontal conveyors (6) and / or further assigned conveyor components are calibrated and / or controlled based on the space coordinates and / or position data and / or contour data, - wherein the at least one optical detection device (40) is at least temporarily moved parallel to the at least three horizontal conveyors (6) assigned to the seizing ranges (4).

9. The method according to claim 8, in which the piece goods are moved in transport direction (TR) in four parallel rows to the seizing ranges (4) of the at least two manipulators (5), wherein each of these rows is assigned to and / or moved by means of one of four parallel transport devices (3), and in which the seizing ranges (4) of the at least two manipulators (5) are assigned four parallel horizontal conveyors (6), each of which is aligned with the four following parallel transport devices (3), which horizontal conveyors (6) transport the piece goods in transport direction (TR), with the piece goods coming into the seizing ranges (4) and being rotated and / or shifted there by means of the manipulators (5).

10. The method according to one of the claims 8 or 9, in which the at least three parallel transport devices (3) are each driven independently of one another, wherein the at least three parallel transport devices (3) are, in particular, each assigned a separate and / or separately controllable drive (16).

11. The method according to one of the claims 8 to 10, in which the at least three parallel horizontal conveyors (6) are each driven independently of one another, wherein the at least three parallel horizontal conveyors (6) are, in particular, each assigned a separate and / or separately controllable drive (17).

12. The method according to one of the previous claims, in which each row is assigned an optical detection device (40), wherein at least two optical detection devices (40) are moved together within a movement range parallel to a horizontal conveying device (6) assigned to the seizing ranges (4) via a single drive, and / or wherein each row is assigned an optical detection device (40), wherein each optical detection device has its own drive, wherein at least two optical detection devices (40) are moved independently of each other parallel to the transport direction (TR) in or against the transport direction (TR) in the area of a longitudinal side of the horizontal conveyors (6).

13. The method according to claim 12, in which the at least three optical detection devices (40) are designed such that a first optical detection device (40) detects piece goods of a first row, that a second optical detection device (40) detects piece goods of a second row, and that a third optical detection device (40) detects piece goods of a third row.