Retractable Feed Conveyor for Parcel Gripper Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing parcel sorting installations face issues with robotic grippers failing to identify and pick individual packages due to lack of gripping surfaces, leading to package damage, simultaneous pickup of multiple packages, and inefficient use of space, resulting in reduced sorting speed and increased structural costs.
Innovation Solution
A parcel sorting process that uses a retractable conveyor portion to allow packages to fall by gravity under the feed conveyor when not individually identifiable, combined with synchronized operation of multiple injection conveyors to optimize package handling and reduce space requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a robotic gripper is used to retrieve packages one by one from a bulk, then packages can be individualized and placed on the injection conveyor, but the gripper fails to identify packages without a gripping surface on top that is not covered by another package
Solution Approach 1:
The feed conveyor is made retractable, allowing it to dynamically change position between a deployed position (flush with injection conveyor for normal operation) and a retracted position (creating space for bulk package evacuation). This dynamic adjustment enables the system to adapt to different operational states and resolve the gripping reliability issue.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the problematic bulk packages from the operational area by evacuating them to the side of the feed conveyor when they cannot be individualized. This removes the source of the gripping problem and allows the system to maintain high reliability.
2Quantity of substance
If packages are packed too tightly together to increase bulk density, then space utilization improves, but the robotic gripper cannot pick up individual packages without also picking up other packages
Solution Approach 1:
The retractable feed conveyor acts as an intermediary mechanism between the bulk packages and the robotic gripper. When bulk packages need to be evacuated, the conveyor retracts to create space, allowing the gripper to operate effectively without accidentally picking up multiple packages, thus maintaining ease of operation while preserving bulk density.
3Area of stationary object
If the arrangement between packages is too close to maximize space utilization, then floor area is reduced, but the risk of damage to adjoining packages when grasped by the gripping robot increases
Solution Approach 1:
The retractable feed conveyor dynamically creates space between the bulk packages and the injection conveyor when evacuation is needed, reducing the risk of damage to adjoining packages during gripping operations while maintaining compact floor area utilization during normal operation.
4Reliability
If a mechanism is provided to reject non-individualizable packages from the bulk, then package handling reliability improves, but the space required on the side of the infeed conveyor increases floor area and structural costs
Solution Approach 1:
The retractable feed conveyor serves multiple functions: it acts as the primary conveying mechanism during normal operation, serves as an evacuation mechanism for bulk packages when needed, and dynamically adjusts its position to maintain compact floor area utilization. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate rejection mechanisms and reduces overall space requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The retractable design allows the feed conveyor to dynamically adjust its position, creating evacuation space on-demand without permanently increasing floor area. This resolves the contradiction between reliability (needing evacuation capability) and space utilization (minimizing floor area).
5Productivity
If the feed conveyor operates at high speed to increase sorting throughput, then productivity improves, but the robotic gripper has insufficient time to retrieve and place packages individually
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains continuous operation by evacuating bulk packages when they cannot be individualized, preventing interruptions in the sorting process. This ensures continuous useful action at the injection conveyor, maintaining high productivity without sacrificing gripper operation time for individual package handling.
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
Enhances sorting speed and efficiency by minimizing robotic gripper movement, reducing package damage, and optimizing space usage, while maintaining high-speed parcel sorting performance.
Implementation Method 1
command the retraction of the retractable conveyor portion from a deployed position in which the retractable conveyor portion is flush with the injection conveyor, to a retracted position in which the retractable conveyor portion is retracted in the opposite direction to the conveying direction, so as to cause the packages in the bulk of packages to fall by gravity under the feed conveyor
Data Source
Figure 1~3
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for sorting parcels in order to feed an injection conveyor (4) with parcels (2) from unsorted parcels conveyed on a feed conveyor (3) in a given conveying direction (D1), wherein an image of the unsorted parcels is produced using a camera (7) arranged above the feed conveyor and a monitoring and control unit (8) identifies a parcel to be separated that has a gripping surface on top which is not covered by any other parcels in the digital image of the unsorted parcels, the monitoring and control unit being configured to servo-control a gripper robot (9) so as to pick up the parcel to be separated and place it on the injection conveyor.