Search

DE-102025145596-A1 - Filling device and gripping device for a filling device

DE102025145596A1DE 102025145596 A1DE102025145596 A1DE 102025145596A1DE-102025145596-A1

Abstract

A filling device comprising: a positioning unit for moving a container into a loading position; a feeding unit for moving one or more receiving containers along a conveying trajectory extending from a loading area to a gripping area such that in the loading area the one or more receiving containers are vertically oriented and in the gripping area the one or more receiving containers are arranged in a predefined gripping arrangement; a handling unit capable of gripping and moving the receiving containers arranged in the gripping arrangement in the gripping area and placing them in a loading position in the container; actuator means for rotating the vertically oriented receiving containers according to an axis of rotation perpendicular to their longitudinal axes in order to arrange them in the rotated orientation, the handling unit being configured to place the receiving containers in the rotated orientation into the container.

Inventors

  • Mariano Sartor
  • MASSIMO FRASSON

Assignees

  • BREVETTI C.E.A. S.P.A.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20251106
Priority Date
20241113

Claims (12)

  1. Filling device (1; 100), comprising: a positioning unit (2) for moving a container (C), wherein the positioning unit (2) defines a loading position for the container (C); a feeding unit (3) for moving one or more receiving containers (R), each having an elongated shape according to a corresponding longitudinal axis (X) which defines its orientation, along a conveying trajectory (Y1) extending from a loading area (14) to a gripping area (15) and such that the one or more receiving containers (R) in the loading area (14) are vertically oriented and that the one or more receiving containers (R) in the gripping area (15) are arranged in a predefined gripping arrangement; a handling unit (4; 104) that is operational to grasp one or more receiving containers (R) arranged in the gripping area (15) and in the gripping arrangement, and to move them in order to place them in the container (C) arranged in the loading position; characterized in that it comprises actuator means (5; 105) for rotating one or more vertically oriented receiving containers (R) according to a rotation axis (Z) perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (X) in order to arrange them in a rotated orientation, wherein the handling unit (4; 104) is configured to place the one or more receiving containers (R), arranged in the rotated orientation, into the container (C).
  2. Filling device according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the handling unit (4; 104) comprises a first handling device (41; 141) which is provided with first clamping means (42; 142) which are to be controlled in order to move the first clamping means (42; 142) so that they grasp the one or more receiving containers (R) which are arranged in the gripping area (15) in the gripping arrangement, move them out of the gripping area (15) and release them in a position different with respect to the gripping arrangement, wherein the actuator means (5; 105) differ from the first handling device (41; 141) in such a way that the receiving containers (R) are rotated when the receiving containers (R) are not gripped by the first clamping means (42; 142).
  3. Filling device (1; 100) according to Claim 2 , characterized in that the feeding unit (3) comprises: a second clamping means (6) for gripping one or more vertically oriented receiving surfaces holdings (R); guiding means (7) for guiding the second clamping means (6) along the conveying trajectory (Y1); motorizing means for moving the second clamping means (6) along the conveying trajectory (Y1).
  4. Filling device (1) according Claim 3 , characterized in that the second clamping means (6) comprise a gripping section (8) for gripping each of the one or more receiving containers (R) and a guide section (9), wherein the guide section (9) is attached to the guide means (7), wherein the gripping section (8) is rotatably connected to the guide section (9) in order to define for the gripping section (8) a first arrangement in which the receiving container (R) is vertically oriented and a second arrangement in which the receiving container (R) is rotated, wherein the actuator means (5) are configured to cause a rotation of the gripping section (8) between the first arrangement and the second arrangement during the movement of the second clamping means (6) along the conveying trajectory (Y1), wherein the handling unit (4) is operable to grip the receiving container (R) from the second clamping means (6) when the second clamping means (6) are arranged in the gripping area (15) and the gripping section (8) is arranged in the second arrangement.
  5. Filling device (1) according Claim 4 , characterized in that the actuator means (5) comprise a first form profile (10) belonging to the feed unit (3) and a reference body (11) belonging to the gripping section (8) and is configured to interact in contact with the first form profile (10) in such a way that the rotation of the gripping section (8) between the first arrangement and the second arrangement is effected as a result of the movement of the guide section (9) along the conveying trajectory (Y1).
  6. Filling device (1) according Claim 5 , characterized in that the guide means (7) define a return trajectory (Y2) for the second clamping means (6), wherein the return trajectory (Y2) extends from the gripping area (15) to the loading area (14), wherein the motorizing means are configured to move the second clamping means (6) along the return trajectory (Y2), wherein the actuator means (5) are configured to rotate the gripping section (8) from the second arrangement towards the first arrangement while moving the second clamping means (6) along the return trajectory (Y2).
  7. Filling device (1) according to one of the Claims 5 or 6 , characterized in that the actuator means (5) comprise elastic means (12) which are arranged between the guide section (9) and the gripping section (8) and are configured to force the gripping section (8) to rotate in such a way that the reference body (11) is kept in contact with the first form profile (10).
  8. Filling device (1) according to one of the Claims 4 until 7 , characterized in that the feed unit (3) comprises a second form profile (13) which is designed to interact with the gripping section (8) when it is arranged in the gripping area (15) in such a way as to prevent rotation.
  9. Filling device (1) according to one of the Claims 4 until 8 , characterized in that the second clamping means (6) comprise a plurality of gripping sections (8) in order to grip a corresponding plurality of receiving containers (R), wherein the gripping sections (8) are operationally assigned to the guide section (9) such that they are moved simultaneously along the conveying trajectory (Y1) and are simultaneously rotated independently of each other between the first arrangement and the second arrangement.
  10. Filling device (100) according to one of the Claims 2 or 3 , characterized in that the second clamping means (6) are configured to hold the one or more receiving containers (R) vertically aligned during movement along the conveying trajectory (Y1), wherein the first handling device is capable of grasping the one or more vertically aligned receiving containers (R) and moving them into an intermediate area (116), wherein the handling unit (104) comprises a second handling device (143) comprising third clamping means (144) that are capable of grasping the one or more vertically aligned receiving containers (R) arranged in the intermediate area (116) and placing them into the container (C), wherein the actuator means (105) are configured to rotate the third clamping means (144) to arrange the receiving containers (R) in the rotated orientation.
  11. Filling device (1; 100) according to one of the Claims 1 until 10 , characterized in that the handling unit (4; 104) is capable of simultaneously grasping and moving a group of receiving containers (R) arranged in the gripping arrangement, wherein the feeding unit (3) is configured to arrange the group of receiving containers (R) in the gripping arrangement.
  12. Gripping device (61) for a feeding unit (3), comprising guide means (7) for moving one or more receiving containers (R), each having an elongated shape according to a corresponding longitudinal axis (X) defining their orientation, along a conveying trajectory (Y1), wherein the gripping device (61) is characterized in that it comprises second clamping means (6) for gripping the one or more receiving containers (R), wherein the second clamping means (6) comprise a gripping section (8) for gripping each of the one or more receiving containers (R) and a guide section (9) provided for attachment to the guide means (7), wherein the gripping section (8) is rotatably connected to the guide section (9) about an axis of rotation (Z) in order to define for the gripping section (8) a first arrangement in which the receiving container (R) is vertically oriented and a second arrangement in which the receiving container (R) is rotated.

Description

The present invention is generally applicable to the technical field of machines for inserting objects into a container, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector. In particular, the invention relates to a device for the orderly filling of a container with a plurality of receiving containers. Devices are known for the orderly filling of a container with a plurality of receiving containers, which enable subsequent storage and/or transport within the production plant and from there to other locations. Devices of the aforementioned type are typically used, for example, in the pharmaceutical industry to fill a container with syringes, vials, and other elongated receiving containers along a longitudinal axis (i.e., following a longitudinal axis). It is also known that the filling technique used in the pharmaceutical industry involves inserting syringes and vials into the container with their longitudinal axis aligned vertically. For the sake of simplicity, the following reference to the orientation of a receiving container will be understood to mean the orientation of its longitudinal axis. One of the aforementioned known insertion devices is described in 1 shown where it is labelled as a whole with A. In order to insert the aforementioned receiving containers R (hereinafter referred to as containers) into the container A, it is known to use trays B (English: "trays"), colloquially referred to as "nests" (English: "nests"), which are provided with spaced-apart receptacles E for receiving the receiving containers and holding them in an orderly arrangement, normally in parallel rows. A known technique used in such devices consists of conveying several of the aforementioned receiving containers vertically aligned in a row F, which are then picked up as a whole by a first robot arm G equipped with clamps and loaded onto a corresponding row of receiving positions in the storage area. The aforementioned loading process is carried out for several rows of receiving containers until all compartments of the tray are filled. The tray, along with all the receiving containers R positioned within it, is then transferred by a second robot arm H into container C. According to a known embodiment, the receiving containers R in row F are conveyed by carriages L, each carriage comprising several clamps to grasp a corresponding number of receiving containers and hold them vertically aligned. The carriages L are operatively connected to a guide device M for movement along a ring trajectory Y (circular path) formed on a vertical plane. This trajectory comprises two parallel horizontal sections connected at both ends by two bends. The first of these horizontal sections is used for the forward movement of the carriages L from a loading area, where the carriage clamps pick up the containers from a feed wheel N (referred to as the "star"), to a gripping area, from which the containers R are grasped by the clamps of the first robot arm G. The carriages L are then moved along the second horizontal section of the trajectory and return to the starting point. One example of a known type of guide system M described above is the one distributed by Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG [Germany]. It is understood that the receiving containers R, while traveling along a filling device A of the known type described above, remain vertically aligned and spaced apart from one another. For this reason, the known technique mentioned above advantageously avoids any contact between the receiving containers, thereby preventing impacts and scratches between them. However, loading the vertically aligned and spaced-apart receiving containers has the disadvantage that the number of receiving containers that can be inserted into each container is smaller than what the container would allow if the receiving containers were arranged in mutual contact. As a result, a significant portion of the container remains unused, and therefore the total volume of containers required to hold a predetermined number of receiving containers is significantly higher than the total volume of the receiving containers themselves, and this can even reach a ratio of 3 to 1. The disadvantage just described is that the storage and transport costs of the containers increase proportionally to the ratio mentioned above. The above The disadvantage is particularly significant in cases where it is not necessary to avoid contact between the collection containers, and the priority is instead on limiting the aforementioned costs. The present invention aims to overcome at least some of the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, an objective of the invention is to provide a filling device that makes it possible to arrange the maximum possible number of receiving containers of a given shape into a given container. More specifically, it is an objective of the invention that the aforementioned filling device makes it possible to insert a greater number of receiving containers into t