Egg Tray Destacking with Spring-Loaded Pins for Misaligned Stacks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing egg tray destacking devices require precise vertical and horizontal alignment of stacks, which is often not maintained during transport or manual stacking, leading to inefficient destacking due to imperfect alignment.
Innovation Solution
A device with a vertically and horizontally movable manipulator and gripper, equipped with spring-loaded support pins, adjusts the pallet's horizontal position and inserts between egg trays to correct alignment before removal, ensuring proper destacking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the destacking device requires precise vertical and horizontal alignment of egg tray stacks, then the destacking operation can be performed reliably, but the device cannot handle imperfectly aligned stacks caused by transport or manual stacking
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs a movable base (pallet) that can be shifted horizontally along the X-axis, transforming the static alignment requirement into a dynamic adjustment capability. This allows the system to adapt to various stack positions while maintaining reliable destacking operations
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the positional parameter of the pallet in the horizontal direction to bring misaligned stacks within the gripper's reach. By adjusting the pallet's position rather than requiring perfect initial alignment, the device handles imperfect stacks effectively
2Productivity
If the egg trays are precisely positioned horizontally and vertically, then the gripper can remove trays efficiently, but transport and manual stacking cause displacement that prevents precise positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary horizontal adjustment of the pallet position before the gripper executes the tray removal operation. This preliminary action compensates for misalignment caused by transport, ensuring that stacks are within reach of the gripper when the actual removal begins
Solution Approach 2:
The movable pallet acts as an intermediary between the fixed gripper and the imperfectly aligned stacks. By adjusting the pallet's position, the system mediates the discrepancy between the gripper's fixed position and the variable stack positions, enabling efficient tray removal
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient destacking of imperfectly aligned egg tray stacks by correcting horizontal and vertical misalignments, facilitating trouble-free removal and placement on a discharge conveyor.
Implementation Method 1
the gripper (6) comprises support pins (7) extending in a horizontal plane and configured to be inserted from the side between the egg trays, which support pins are spring-loaded in the horizontal longitudinal direction
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
Device for destacking a load of egg trays (1), comprising a frame (2) and a gripper (6). The device comprises a manipulator (4) for adjusting the bottom of the stacked load of egg trays in the horizontal direction, such that the higher-situated egg trays are brought within the reach of the gripper by said adjustment. The gripper comprises horizontal support pins (7) for insertion from the side between the egg trays, which support pins are spring-loaded in the longitudinal direction. The control of the manipulator is configured such that, after one of the spring-loaded pins has been inserted between the respective layer of egg trays, the gripper is moved vertically such that the remaining spring-loaded pin or pins are also inserted between the respective layer of egg trays by their spring force, after which the gripper removes the trays situated above the pins upward.