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JP-2026514241-A - Apparatus and method for positioning products in a packaging line

JP2026514241AJP 2026514241 AJP2026514241 AJP 2026514241AJP-2026514241-A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for positioning products (P) in a manufacturing line, and more particularly to a device for positioning products from a conveyor belt into a container, such as a box, comprising a buffer (2) and at least one robot (3). The buffer (2) includes at least two conveyor belts (2a, 2b) for transporting products (P) and two switches (4) for transporting products (P) from one side of the conveyor belts (2a, 2b) to the other. The at least one robot (3) is configured to pick up at least one product (P) from a first conveyor belt (2a) and place it in a transport belt (5) or a container placed thereon, the transport belt (5) being arranged substantially parallel to and close to the first conveyor belt (2a), and enabling the robot (3) to position the product from the first conveyor belt (2a) onto the transport belt (5). The first conveyor belt (2a) and the transport belt (5) are configured to move in opposite directions. The present invention also relates to the use of the above apparatus and to two packaging methods using the apparatus of the present invention.

Inventors

  • フィリップ、カート
  • ヴィアモーズ、クリスティアン

Assignees

  • デモレ ソシエテ アノニム

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20240424
Priority Date
20230503

Claims (14)

  1. A product (P) positioning device (1) in a manufacturing line, more particularly a device (1) for positioning a product from a conveyor belt into a container, such as a box, comprising a buffer (2) and at least one robot (3), The buffer (2) includes at least two conveyor belts (2a, 2b) for transporting the product (P), and two switches (4) for transporting the product (P) from one side of the conveyor belts (2a, 2b) to the other side of the conveyor belts (2a, 2b), from both sides of the conveyor belts (2a, 2b). The at least one robot (3) is configured to pick up at least one product (P) from the first conveyor belt (2a) and place the product (P) on the conveyor belt (5) or in a container placed on the conveyor belt (5), the conveyor belt (5) being positioned substantially parallel to and close to the first conveyor belt (2a), thereby enabling the robot (3) to position the products from the first conveyor belt (2a) onto the conveyor belt (5), The apparatus (1) is characterized in that the first conveyor belt (2a) and the transport belt (5) are configured to move in opposite directions.
  2. The apparatus (1) according to claim 1, comprising at least two robots.
  3. The apparatus (1) according to claim 1 or 2, comprising artificial visual means that enables the robot to visually perceive the shape and position of the product.
  4. The apparatus (1) according to claim 3, wherein the artificial recognition means is configured so that the robot can place the product in an empty space on the conveyor belt (5) or in an empty space in the container.
  5. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first conveyor belt (2a) and the transport belt (5) are configured to have their respective speeds individually adjustable.
  6. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the direction of movement of the first conveyor belt (2a), the second conveyor belt (2b), and the transport belt (5) can be reversed.
  7. The switch comprises at least one switch belt (4) having two belt rollers (4a, 4b), The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the switch belt is configured such that the height of at least one of the belt rollers (4a, 4b) can be adjusted with respect to the height of the first conveyor belt (2a) and the height of the second conveyor belt (2b).
  8. The apparatus (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that the switch belt (4) is tiltable so that the height of the second belt roller (4b) can be adjusted with respect to the height of the first conveyor belt (2a) and the height of the second conveyor belt (2b).
  9. The apparatus (1) according to claim 7, characterized by comprising an elevator mechanism configured such that the heights of the two belt rollers (4a, 4b) can be adjusted relative to the height of the first conveyor belt (2a) and the height of the second conveyor belt (2b).
  10. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising at least three conveyor belts (2a, 2b, 2c).
  11. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the robot is a delta robot or a SCARA robot.
  12. A method of using the apparatus (1) described in any one of claims 1 to 11 to place a product in a container, The robot (3) removes the product (P) placed on the first conveyor belt (2a) of the buffer (2) and places it in an empty space on the conveyor belt (5) or in an empty space on the conveyor belt (5), while the first conveyor belt (2a) and the conveyor belt (5) move in opposite directions. How to use.
  13. A method for packaging a product (P) in a manufacturing line using the apparatus (1) described in any one of claims 1 to 11, a. Load the product (P) onto the first switch belt (5a), b. Transfer the product (P) onto the second conveyor belt (2b) of the buffer (2). c. The product (P) is transported by the second conveyor belt (2b) toward the second switch belt (4), d. The product (P) is transferred from the second conveyor belt (2b) to the first conveyor belt (2a) via the second switch belt (4). e. The product (P) is transported by the first conveyor belt (2a) toward the first switch belt (4), f. The robot (3) takes out the product (P), g. The robot (3) places the removed product (P) in an empty space on the conveyor belt (5) or in an empty space on the conveyor belt (5), and at this time, the conveyor belt (5) moves in the opposite direction to the first conveyor belt (2a), and h. The product (P) is transported to the packaging device by the conveyor belt (5). A method that includes each step.
  14. A method for packaging a product (P) in a manufacturing line using the apparatus (1) described in any one of claims 1 to 11, a. Load the product onto the first switch belt, b. Transfer the product onto the first conveyor belt of the buffer. c. The robot removes the product, d. The robot places the removed product in an empty space on the conveyor belt or in an empty space on the conveyor belt, and at this time, the conveyor belt moves in the opposite direction to the direction of the first conveyor belt. e. Transferring products not picked up by the robot from the first conveyor belt to the second conveyor belt via the second switch belt, f. The product placed on the conveyor belt is transported by the conveyor belt to the packaging device. A method that includes each step.

Description

This invention relates to the field of apparatus or machinery for supplying products to a manufacturing line. In particular, this application relates to an apparatus that enables the efficient transfer of products from a manufacturing line to a packaging line. Furthermore, this application relates to the use of an apparatus according to the present invention and two methods for packaging products using an apparatus according to the present invention. When manufacturing products using a production line, it is common practice to use buffers (or buffer units) to separate processes and improve efficiency. In a production line, products manufactured in rows by production equipment such as ovens or casting (or inventing) equipment are loaded onto a wide main belt. To improve efficiency and, if the product is food, to maintain hygiene standards, the main belt ensures that the products are transported to the packaging equipment over the shortest possible distance. Such products include, for example, cookies, chocolate tablets, or chocolate bars. Depending on production capacity, multiple packaging lines are required to package a given quantity while minimizing the proportion of scrap (waste). A packaging line includes multiple packaging machines connected in sequence. For example, it might include a bagging machine at the first position, a multi-packer at the second position, a boxing device at the third position, and finally a palletizer. If one machine on this line malfunctions and stops, the entire line stops. To avoid overflow while maintaining production levels, an additional packaging line (known as a standby line, etc.) takes over, or a buffer is used to receive excess product, thus preventing product overflow. The latest technology includes belt buffers, which are positioned at the end of the supply line and can absorb overflows of multiple rows of products that cannot be allocated to packaging machines located upstream. Overflows of multiple rows of products can occur if the packaging line supplied by the supply line stops, and as a result, it is unable to allocate them. To transfer products from the supply line to the packaging line, it is known that robots, for example, positioned continuously along the product flow, can be used to pick up products from the belt on the supply line and place these products into container-free spaces, such as boxes transported by the belt on the packaging line. One problem with manufacturing lines equipped with known buffers is that the lines can become too long, which means higher associated costs. In fact, in this case, one or more buffers are provided upstream of the equipment, including the transfer robots, and it is necessary to provide curved belts to create a meandering manufacturing line to avoid a straight manufacturing line several tens of meters long. This curved belt presents the challenge that products are not transported at a uniform speed depending on their position relative to their center of rotation. Furthermore, curved belts need to be provided downstream to rearrange the rows of products. As a result, the manufacturing line becomes long and costs are high. Therefore, one of the objectives of the present invention is to provide equipment that enables the shortening of the manufacturing line length, thereby increasing efficiency and lowering associated costs. Another challenge with known systems is that the last robot in the direction of product flow may only have a limited number of products because, in its configuration, many products have already been transported by the upstream robots. Simultaneously, if the packaging line belt is configured to transport containers in the direction of product flow, the last robot in that direction will only see (or perceive) already loaded (or full) boxes. This is inefficient and results in many products that cannot be placed in the containers. To address this problem, operation in a "counterflow mode" has been proposed. This means that the production line belt transporting products and the packaging belt transporting containers move in opposite directions. In this case, the last robot in the line sees fewer products but empty boxes. Meanwhile, the upstream robots see many products and filled boxes. Known production lines employing so-called "counterflow" are more efficient than lines that do not employ this configuration, but they are very long and occupy a lot of space, making them very costly. As a result, when adopting a counter-flow system in a manufacturing line, there is a need for equipment that does not increase the line's length. Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.Figure 2 is a perspective view of an apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a product P positioning device 1 in a manufacturing line according to a first embodiment. In this embodiment, the buffer (or buffer) 2 o