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EP-4493332-B1 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE PROCESSING OF PRODUCTS

EP4493332B1EP 4493332 B1EP4493332 B1EP 4493332B1EP-4493332-B1

Inventors

  • VAN BOXTEL, JOHANNES MARTINUS MARIA
  • TAAMS, Hugo Laurens Jan
  • DE LOOIJER, Stijn Olaf Hendrik
  • STEIJAERT, HANS ALPHONSIUS MARIA

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230314

Claims (15)

  1. System (1; 100) for the processing of products, comprising - a bulk supply conveyor (3; 103) for supplying products (2); - a discharge conveyor (4; 104) for the discharging of products (2); - a transfer robot (10; 110) arranged for transferring products from the bulk supply conveyor (3) to the discharge conveyor (4); - a controller arranged for selecting, on the basis of predetermined selection criteria, a product that is to be transferred, from products that are fed with the bulk supply conveyor (3) to the transfer robot (10), and for controlling the transfer robot (10), on the basis of the selection, for the purpose of transferring, by the transfer robot (10), of the product that is to be transferred; - a transfer station (12; 112) for the manual transfer there, to the discharge conveyor (4), of products that have not been transferred by the transfer robot (10), wherein the transfer station (12) is provided in the system in such a way that products that have not been transferred by the transfer robot (10) end up at the transfer station (12), wherein the system comprises several such transfer robots (10), which are provided successively, seen in a transport direction (5) of the bulk supply conveyor (3), characterized in that the bulk supply conveyor (3) comprises a main conveyor (6) with several branches (8), wherein each branch (8) ends up at one of the several transfer robots (10), wherein the system (1) comprises a respective branch device (14) associated with each branch (8), which is arranged for causing products (2) to move across from the main conveyor (6) to the respective branch (8), the system further comprising a branch controller (16) arranged for controlling the respective branch devices (14) in such a way that products move across from the main conveyor (6) to the branches (8) for supplying said products to the transfer robots (10) via the branches (8).
  2. System according to claim 1, wherein each of the several transfer robots (10) has an associated said controller (22; 122).
  3. System according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the several transfer robots (10) are installed along the bulk supply conveyor (3) in such a way that these products are transferred from a stream of products on the bulk supply conveyor (3), wherein the bulk supply conveyor (3) ends up at the transfer station (12) downstream of the several transfer robots (10).
  4. System according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the system has a separate transfer robot (10) for each of the several branches (8) and/or wherein the main conveyor (6) discharges at the transfer station (12) downstream of the branches (8).
  5. System according to one of the preceding claims, wherein each of the several branches (8) comprises a branch conveyor (9) with a branch drive (11) for driving the branch conveyor (9) in such a way that products are transported from the main conveyor (6) to the transfer robot (10), preferably wherein the controller is also arranged in each case for stopping, during a transfer operation by the transfer robot (10), at least one portion of the branch conveyor (9) situated at the location of the transfer robot (10).
  6. System according to claim 5, further comprising: - an auxiliary conveyor (26) arranged for conveying products to the transfer station (12), wherein the controller is also arranged for controlling the branch drive (11) in such a way that products that have not been transferred by the transfer robot (10) move across from the branch conveyor (9) to the auxiliary conveyor (26).
  7. System according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a camera (28; 128) for detecting products on the bulk supply conveyor (3), wherein the controller is arranged for selecting a product to be transferred, using information about a product on the bulk supply conveyor (3) detected with the camera (28).
  8. System according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising: - a further camera (36; 136) for detecting a product on the discharge conveyor (4) at the location of the transfer robot (10); - a removing device (40; 140) for removing a product from the discharge conveyor (4) at the location of the transfer robot (10); the system comprising a remover-controller (38; 138) arranged to drive the removing device (40) in such a way that a product on the discharge conveyor (4) is removed from the discharge conveyor (4) at the location of the transfer robot (10) if it is determined with the further camera (36) that the product does not satisfy predetermined criteria relating to an orientation of the product and/or to the position of the product on the discharge conveyor (4) and/or that the product forms part of several products that are transferred by the transfer robot (10) unintentionally in a single transfer operation, wherein preferably the remover-controller (38) is arranged to drive the removing device (40) in such a way that a product on the discharge conveyor (4) at the location of the transfer robot (10) goes back across from the discharge conveyor (4) to the bulk supply conveyor (3).
  9. System according to claim 8 and according to claim 6 or a claim dependent thereon, wherein the remover-controller (38) is arranged to drive the removing device (40) in such a way that a product on the discharge conveyor (4) at the location of the transfer robot (10) goes across from the discharge conveyor (4) to the auxiliary conveyor (26).
  10. System according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the discharge conveyor (4) comprises an infeed (34; 134) wherein the transfer robot (10) is arranged for transferring products from the bulk supply conveyor (3) to the infeed (34) of the discharge conveyor (4).
  11. System according to claim 10, wherein the discharge conveyor (4) further comprises a recording device with a readout device (42; 142) at the location of the infeed (34) arranged for recording information from a product on the infeed (34), wherein the readout device (42) is preferably arranged for optical readout of an optically readable code on the product, wherein preferably the readout device (42) is arranged for readout from the bottom upwards of an underside of a product on the infeed, and wherein the recording device also comprises a further readout device (44; 144) that is provided downstream of the infeed (34) along the discharge conveyor (4) for readout of one or more sides of the product facing upwards or sideways, wherein further preferably for each of the several transfer robots (10) the discharge conveyor (4) has a separate such infeed (34), wherein each infeed (34) has a readout device (42) of this kind and wherein one such further readout device (44) is provided downstream of said infeeds (34) along the discharge conveyor (4).
  12. System according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the several transfer robots (10), preferably each transfer robot (10), is arranged for being able to throw products onto a discharge conveyor (4), preferably onto an infeed (34) thereof.
  13. Method for processing products, the method using a system (1; 100) according to one of claims 1-12 and comprising a) the supplying of products (2; 102) with a bulk supply conveyor (3; 103); b) in each case, transferring a product with a transfer robot (10; 110) from the bulk supply conveyor (3) to a discharge conveyor (4), for which: b1) with a controller, on the basis of predetermined selection criteria, a product to be transferred is selected from products that are fed with the bulk supply conveyor (3) to the transfer robot (10), and b2) with the controller, the transfer robot (10) is controlled in such a way that the transfer robot (10) transfers the product that is to be transferred, from the bulk supply conveyor (3) to the discharge conveyor (4) preferably by throwing the product to be transferred onto the discharge conveyor (4); c) the conveying, to a transfer station (12; 112), of products supplied with the bulk supply conveyor (3), which have not been transferred according to step b); and d) manual processing, at the transfer station (12), of the products that had not been transferred, wherein: d1) it is determined whether a product should be transferred to the discharge conveyor (4), and d1a) if so, the product is transferred to the discharge conveyor (4), and d1b) if not, the product is led away from the transfer station (12) to a residual discharge system (48; 148).
  14. Method according to claim 13, wherein if during step b2), gripping of the product with the transfer robot (10) for the purpose of transferring the product is not successful, step b2) is repeated at least once and at most three times, and if during said repetition of step b2), gripping of the product with the transfer robot (10) for the purpose of transferring the product is also unsuccessful, during a subsequent step b1) this product is excluded from selection by the controller at least up to and including execution of step c).
  15. Method according to one of claims 13-14, wherein step b) is carried out for only a proportion of the products, wherein the remainder of the products are supplied directly to the transfer station (12), preferably wherein said proportion of the products for which step b) is carried out is between 70 and 95 percent of the products supplied, more preferably 80 to 90 percent.

Description

The present invention relates to a system and a method for processing products. The products preferably relate to parcels. In systems to which the invention relates, products typically arrive in bulk and leave the system in such a way that the products are easier to sort. That is, a relatively unstructured stream of products is then converted into a more structured, more "singulated" stream of products such as for the purpose of said sorting. US 10,646,898 B2 and US 10,994,309 B2 relate to a system and method for identifying and transferring products from a first to a second conveyor. WO 2021/198053 A1 discloses a robot system for picking randomly shaped and sized objects from a continuously moving stream of objects in bulk. Singulated objects are placed and aligned on an induction or directly on a sorter. One aim of the invention is to provide an improved system and improved method for the processing of products. One aim of the invention is to provide an efficient system and method for the structured transfer of a stream of products supplied in bulk from a bulk supply conveyor to a discharge conveyor. One aim of the invention is to provide a system and method for processing products supplied in bulk with a low error sensitivity. One or more of said aims are achieved with the system according to the present invention, as defined in claim 1, and/or with the method according to the invention as defined in claim 13. The invention provides a system for the processing of products, comprising a bulk supply conveyor for supplying products;a discharge conveyor for the discharging of products;a transfer robot arranged for transferring products from the bulk supply conveyor to the discharge conveyor;a controller arranged for selecting, on the basis of predetermined selection criteria, a product that is to be transferred, from products that are fed with the bulk supply conveyor to the transfer robot, and for controlling the transfer robot, on the basis of the selection, for the purpose of transferring, by the transfer robot, the product that is to be transferred;a transfer station for the manual transfer there, to the discharge conveyor, of products that have not been transferred by the transfer robot, wherein the transfer station is provided in the system in such a way that products that have not been transferred by the transfer robot end up at the transfer station;wherein the system comprises several such transfer robots, which are provided successively, seen in a transport direction of the bulk supply conveyor, and wherein the bulk supply conveyor comprises a main conveyor with several branches, wherein each branch ends up at one of the several transfer robots,wherein the system comprises a respective branch device associated with each branch, which is arranged for causing products to move across from the main conveyor to the respective branch,the system further comprising a branch controller arranged for controlling the respective branch devices in such a way that products move across from the main conveyor to the branches for supplying said products to the transfer robots via the branches. The invention also provides a method for processing products, the method comprising a) the supplying of products with a bulk supply conveyor;b) in each case, transferring a product with a transfer robot from the bulk supply conveyor to a discharge conveyor, for which: b1) with a controller, on the basis of predetermined selection criteria, a product to be transferred is selected from products that are fed with the bulk supply conveyor to the transfer robot, andb2) with the controller, the transfer robot is controlled in such a way that the transfer robot transfers the product that is to be transferred, from the bulk supply conveyor to the discharge conveyor;c) the conveying, to a transfer station, of products supplied with the bulk supply conveyor, which have not been transferred according to step b); andd) manual processing, at the transfer station, of the products that had not been transferred, wherein: d1) it is determined whether a product should be transferred to the discharge conveyor, and d1a) if so, the product is transferred to the discharge conveyor, andd1b) if not, the product is led away from the transfer station to a residual discharge system. One effect of the system and of the method according to the invention is that by the selected transfer of products with a transfer robot to the discharge conveyor and manual transfer at a transfer station, i.e. by a person, to the discharge conveyor, of products that have not been transferred by the transfer robot, very efficient structured processing of products, such as parcels, is possible. Products such as parcels are characterized by a great variety of dimensions, shape, material and weight. With the system and the method according to the invention, a supplied stream of unstructured products, i.e. a bulk supply of products wherein products are typically located disorderl