Automated Crate Opening and Restacking Apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for opening and restacking agricultural crates are inefficient, requiring excessive handling and time, as they are typically opened and handled one at a time, preventing simultaneous stacking and increasing transportation costs due to empty spaces.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that automatically open and stack multiple closed crates in a single operation, allowing them to be supplied and restacked as ordered stacks, utilizing a system with lifting and rotating mechanisms to align and secure the crates, enabling efficient handling and reduced handling time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If crates are opened and handled one at a time using conventional apparatus, then the opening operation can be performed, but the handling time and operational complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple crate opening operations into a single integrated apparatus that can process several crates simultaneously. The device merges the opening mechanisms for multiple crates into one unified system, allowing parallel operation rather than sequential handling of individual crates, thereby reducing total handling time while maintaining operational simplicity.
2Productivity
If crates are processed individually through multiple transfer stations, then each crate can be opened and restacked, but the number of transfers and operational steps increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges multiple separate operations (opening, lifting, transferring, and restacking) into a single integrated apparatus. Instead of using separate stations for each operation, the device combines all functions into one unit that processes multiple crates through a unified mechanism, reducing device complexity while maintaining high productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The apparatus is designed as a multi-functional device that can perform opening, lifting, transferring, and restacking operations simultaneously on multiple crates. This universal design allows a single apparatus to replace what would traditionally require multiple specialized stations, simplifying the overall system while improving throughput.
3Ease of operation
If crates are sent to harvesting centres in their usual opened configuration, then they are ready for use, but transportation costs increase due to excessive bulk and empty spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs dynamic mechanisms that allow the crate walls to be actively repositioned between opened and closed configurations. The lifting and rotating means dynamically adjust the wall positions during the restacking process, enabling crates to be automatically closed after use. This dynamic capability allows crates to transition from an opened ready-to-use state to a closed compact state for efficient transportation, reducing volume without manual intervention.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 1c~1d
Figure 2a
AI summary
Method to fully automatically open the two pairs of opposed reclined walls of a plurality of crates, preferably for agricultural products, vertically laid one on the other so as to form a respective first stack and which comprises the phases of carrying the first stack to a first working station, of vertically raising two opposed walls of the upper crate by respective rotation with respect to the bottom plane, of vertically raising the other two front walls by respective rotation, blocking of at least one of the side walls to an adjacent side wall, of horizontally transferring the open crate into a position which enables to lower it and lay it onto an adjacent second stack formed by the already opened crates. The working station is provided with means which enable to open first two opposed walls through the pressure of two extractable means pushing against the rims or the side edges of said two walls and which are rotated so as to drag these walls into rotation, hence opening them. The other two walls are opened by two "hand-shaped" means which insert below the inner rims of the lowered walls and which are rotated around respective axes so as these "hands" raise and open the relative walls. Only one device enters inside the opened crate and is able to both block the adjacent walls and to lift the opened crate and to move it onto a different stack.