Folded Box Gripper Using Opening-Edge Engagement for Automation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The sorting of folded boxes in logistics is laborious and inefficient, often requiring manual intervention and underutilizing expensive robotic arms due to their limited operational hours.
Innovation Solution
A gripping device for folded boxes that allows safe and automatic handling by mounting on a robotic arm, featuring gripping elements that engage with symmetrically arranged openings on the side walls, ensuring stable grasping and manipulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual sorting of folded boxes is performed, then flexibility in handling different box formats is maintained, but labor efficiency is low and resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The gripping device is designed to automatically grasp folded boxes using gripping elements that engage with gripping openings on the box walls. The system performs self-service by eliminating the need for manual sorting operations, with the robotic arm autonomously picking up and moving folded boxes from the first pile to the second pile based on their format characteristics
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical sorting operations with an automated robotic system. The robotic arm equipped with the specialized gripping device substitutes human hands and manual labor, using mechanical gripping elements that interact with the gripping openings on folded boxes to achieve automated handling and sorting
2Extent of automation
If robotic arms are used for sorting full boxes, then automation level increases, but they remain unproductive for most of the day after morning sorting
Solution Approach 1:
The gripping device enables continuous productive operation of robotic arms by transitioning from sorting full boxes in the morning to sorting folded boxes throughout the day. The same robotic arm performs different sorting tasks at different times, ensuring continuous useful action and maximizing the utilization period of the expensive robotic equipment
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic arm is designed with multi-functionality, capable of performing both full box sorting in the morning and folded box sorting during the day. The gripping device can adapt to handle different box configurations, making the robotic system universal and able to perform multiple sorting functions throughout the operational day
3Productivity
If folded boxes are loaded on pallets in a mixed configuration, then loading speed is increased, but subsequent sorting becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The gripping device automatically identifies and grasps folded boxes based on their external characteristics such as gripping opening positions and wall thicknesses. The system performs self-service sorting without requiring pre-arranged orderly configurations, handling mixed box formats on pallets through autonomous detection and gripping operations
Data Source
AI summary
Gripping device for folded boxes provided with two gripping openings lying on a gripping plane. The gripping device includes a support frame, at least a first and a second gripping element, associated with the frame and structured to each fit into a respective gripping opening and to interact with an edge of the gripping opening. The gripping elements are movable between a first position, in which they cannot interact with the edge of the opening, and a second position, in which they can engage with the edge of the opening.