Lifting Device for Multi-Track Pick-and-Place Robot Loading
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems for supplying products to pick-and-place robots in packaging lines are expensive and space-intensive due to the need for curved and spreading belts to maintain product separation, which increases the risk of product contact and overflow when pick-and-place robots fail.
Innovation Solution
A flexible and modular supply system using a height-adjustable lifting device with rotatable and horizontally movable lift belts that positions product formations accurately under pick-and-place devices, eliminating the need for curved and spreading belts by maintaining product separation through controlled belt speed and rotation, allowing for efficient and space-saving product distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If curved and spreading belts are used to maintain product separation, then product separation is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the curved and spreading belts from the system entirely. Instead of using these specialized belts to maintain product separation, the invention uses a lifting device that vertically transports product formations and distributes them to multiple picker tracks, maintaining separation through the distribution mechanism rather than through specialized belt design.
Solution Approach 2:
The lifting device acts as an intermediary between the product buffer and the picker tracks. It receives product formations from the buffer, vertically positions them, and distributes them to multiple picker tracks, replacing the function of curved and spreading belts with a different mechanical approach.
2Reliability
If curved and spreading belts are used to maintain product separation, then product separation is improved, but space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from horizontal product separation mechanisms (curved and spreading belts) to vertical product transport and separation (lifting device). By moving products vertically and then distributing them horizontally to multiple tracks, the system maintains product separation while reducing the horizontal space footprint.
3Reliability
If stand-by robots are added to handle robot failures, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic speed control of the lifting device based on the operational status of pick-and-place robots. When a robot fails or operates slower, the lifting device automatically reduces its speed to match the reduced output capacity, preventing overflow without requiring additional stand-by robots. This dynamic adaptation provides reliability through flexibility rather than redundancy.
Data Source
AI summary
The loading of one or more multi-track pick-and-place devices with formations of products from an interim store including buffer-storage belts arranged in a number of planes takes place by means of a lifting device arranged at the exit of the interim store. The lifting device has a height-adjustable platform, on which conveyor belts which run transversely to the conveying direction of the buffer-storage belts are arranged. The conveyor belts can be displaced horizontally in the conveying direction of the buffer-storage belts and can be rotated through an angle between 0° and 90°.