Article Bundling Device With Elevated Support for Low-Stiffness Stacks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems struggle with the positioning and stacking of articles with low bending stiffness, leading to crumpling and complicating handling and transport, particularly for items like clothing sealed in plastic bags.
Innovation Solution
The system employs a banding device with a band guide and conveying systems that allow articles to move unsupported vertically, using inclined planes and frame parts to facilitate precise stacking and securing with a band.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If articles with low bending stiffness are positioned and stacked using conventional conveying systems, then the stacking operation can be performed, but the articles crumple and become unsightly
Solution Approach 1:
The conveying device discharges articles onto the banding support in advance of the banding operation, allowing them to be positioned on the support plane where they can be stacked without crumpling. This preliminary positioning action prevents the crumpling issue during subsequent handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The banding support acts as an intermediary element between the conveying device and the banding machine. It provides a stable support plane that receives articles from the conveying device and positions them for banding, preventing crumpling during the transition and stacking process.
2Ease of operation
If articles are discharged onto the banding support from a conveying device with the discharging plane close to the support plane, then handling is simplified, but positioning precision at the banding machine deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The banding support is positioned at a different vertical level (elevated) relative to the conveying device's discharging plane. This vertical dimension separation allows articles to be discharged horizontally from the conveying device while landing precisely on the elevated banding support, maintaining both ease of handling and positioning precision.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using complex mechanical positioning mechanisms to achieve precise article placement, the system uses the geometric relationship between the discharging plane and the elevated banding support plane. The articles naturally follow a trajectory that positions them accurately on the support plane through gravitational and geometric constraints rather than active mechanical control.
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
This method ensures stable and aesthetically pleasing stacks of articles with low bending stiffness, simplifying handling and transport by preventing crumpling and improving positioning at the banding machine.
Implementation Method 1
an article discharged from the conveying device of the first conveying system moves to the banding support at least in sections of a trajectory without support of the article from below (i.e. unsupported), wherein the movement has a vertical component pointing downward
Data Source
AI summary
An article bundling device for stacking articles and securing the stack of articles with a band includes a banding support, onto which the articles are stackable, an automatic banding machine with a band guide, with which the band is guided around the stack of articles, a first conveying system for transporting the articles to the banding machine, from which the articles are discharged onto the banding support, and a second conveying system for transporting the secured stack of articles away from the banding machine. The conveying device of the first conveying system with its end located downstream in a first conveying direction is arranged spaced in vertical direction apart from the banding support and above the banding support. A picking system has such an article bundling device and a method operates such an article bundling device.