Ex-cell-o Gmbh

Nordway Limited

Keith W Nord

Ronald B Benson

William H Williams

Mark S Nord

Forrest C Bacon

Ronald J Mrugala

Joseph G Quast

Naaman W Willmore

William J Courteau

A system for transporting, storing and retrieving goods (11) in a warehouse (10) is disclosed. A vehicle (16) moves the goods (11) upon a track system (18) into a storage area (22). The storage area (22) has a plurality of lanes (24) and tiers (33), (35), and the vehicle (16) is moved to the appropriate lane (24) utilizing a lift and transfer unit (28). The lift and transfer unit (28) docks with the appropriate lane (24) utilizing shafts (94), (96) which engage with receiving ends (100), (102) on the lane (24). A safety stop (108) is also provided to insure that complete docking has occurred before transfer of the vehicle (16) from the lift and transfer unit (28) to the storage racks (22) or vice versa.

Storage and retrieval system

An accumulating conveyor system and method for accumulating articles are disclosed. The first embodiment of the conveyor system (10) includes a primary conveyor belt (11) which moves within a transport channel (30) having horizontal rest rails (31). The primary conveyor belt (11) is preferably displaced in the vertical direction by means of an underlying accumulating conveyor belt (23) which includes a plurality of low plates (38) and high plates (39). When the primary conveyor belt (11) is positioned over the high plates (39), the articles (22) are transported in a plane above the rest rails (31), but when the primary conveyor belt (11) is supported upon the low plates (38), the articles (22) are supported by the rest rails (31) without the primary conveyor belt (11) rubbing against the bottoms of the articles (22). The second embodiment of the conveyor system (102) includes carrying rollers (83) which are engageable with a drive belt (84) by means of tension rollers (82). The tension rollers (82) are vertically displaceable by means of a pair of accumulating conveyor belts (92). Travelling sensor means (54) detects the presence of accumulation of the articles (22) at the downstream end (13) of the conveyor system. The sensor means (54) then cause the accumulating conveyor belt (23, 92) to move in a direction opposite to the primary conveyor belt (11, 89) so as to adjust the position of the high and low plates. A lift system is provided to transport accumulated articles (22) off the conveyor system in an end-to-end relationship. This lift system is controlled by means of a call sensor (68) and comprises a plurality of pistons (36, 90) which act to raise the conveyor system.

Accumulating conveyor system

A robot joint including a housing, dual inputs on opposite sides of the housing, an eccentric driven by each inputs and adapted to both planetate around an inner surface of the housing and to drive a first pair of bevel gears, a second pair of bevel gears, each of which meshes with both of the first pair of bevel gears, and a single cylindrical output member secured to one of the second pair of bevel gears. If the dual inputs and, hence, the first pair of bevel gears are driven in the same direction at the same speed, the cylindrical output member is caused to be raised or lowered, whereas if driven at the same speed in opposite directions, the output member is caused to rotate in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Variations in speed and direction will result in desired combinations of 'pitch' and 'roll' movements.

Robot joint

A corrugated box forming, loading and sealing machine, including a first or magazine and infeed section, a second or forming and loading section, and a third or closing and discharge section. In the first section there is stored and fed one-at-a-time flat corrugated blanks consisting of bottom, front, back and two top-half panels, all with extended edge panels, while glue is applied to the bottom, front and back edge panels. In the second section a product, such as cartons or plastic bottles, and two side panels, are loaded from opposite sides onto the bottom panel. When full, the loaded bottom panel is lowered through an opening whose four edge portions cause the front and back panels, and their respective edge panels to wrap around the product. The resultant open-topped box is then pushed into the third section while glue is applied to the side panels, and the two top-half panels are urged downwardly onto the product, and their edge panels into contact with the glued side panels, to thus complete the sealing process prior to discharge.

Corrugated box forming, loading and sealing machine

There is illustrated and described a machine for setting up corrugated box blanks having four side panels folded double and sealed along their otherwise adjacent free edges and having top and bottom end flaps extending from each end of each side panel. The machine includes a magazine for holding a plurality of folded blanks, means for removing individual blanks from the magazine and opening same into vertically oriented four-sided tubes, first transfer means for moving the tubes laterally while closing the bottom leading end flap, means for closing the bottom trailing end flap, breaking the bottom side flaps and rotating the open-topped boxes to a loading position, separate, cooperating loading means for depositing product, such as cartons, bottles or the like, into the open-topped boxes, second transfer means for moving the loaded boxes laterally while closing the top leading and trailing end flaps and bringing the top side flaps into contact with converging rails, means for depositing an adhesive along each of the top and bottom oppositely disposed side flaps while the boxes are being moved, and means for compressing, and thus sealing, the top and bottom side flaps onto the respective leading and trailing end flaps, readying the boxes for discharge.

The packaging machine illustrated and described herein is adaptable to loading bottles or cartons into cases. The machine includes a frame, a spider mechanism rotatably mounted on the frame for transporting containers to be loaded, a guide plate located adjacent the edge of the path of the spider mechanism and extending along a predetermined circumferential lower portion thereof, a chute for conveying cases past the guide plate, an opening formed through a wall of the chute adjacent the upper edge of the guide plate for communication with the open ends of the cases, a stop mechanism for controlling the movement of the cases past the opening in an indexing manner, and control means for controlling the simultaneous indexing of the stop mechanism and the spider mechanism so as to assure that each successive layer of containers will be fed by the spider mechanism so as to slide through the opening into the space of the next available row within the respective cases.

Packaging machine

The disclosure illustrates and describes a machine (10) for handling and unstacking dollies (14) loaded with stacks (16) of cross-nested baskets (18) wherein the front and rear walls of the individual baskets are positioned at random. The machine includes an inlet section (12) and an orienting section (20). In the former, lift and pusher elements (36, 42, 44, 46, 51) are provided for separating a stack from its dolly, and in the latter, lift and turn elements (52, 62, 64, 66, 100, 106, 108) are provided for orienting each bottom basket in turn, separating it from the stack, and discharging it.

Unstacking machine

The specification discloses an accumulating conveyor system (10) including fixed support rails (24), a pair of chains (18), each having half tall links (70) and half short links (72), mounted around upper and lower movable guides (68) and (66) respectively. Air bags (52) serve to raise the guides and chains to lift stacks or cases off the rails, and a cylinder (96) serves to index the raised guides and chains forward, whereupon the air bags are deflated to set the stacks back onto the rails, and the cylinder retracts. When a stack is thus 'walked' to the end of the tall links, a switch (104) causes the chains to retract the length of a stack plus a clearance gap relative to the guides (68) to accommodate the accumulation of the next stack and bringing short links beneath the accumulated stacks. When it is desired to discharge the accumulated stacks, a dual level plate member (88), which is slidable relative to the guides, allows the air bags to raise the guides one level higher, thereby causing the short links to lift the accumulated stacks and carry them to discharge when the cylinder indexes. Accumulation and discharge may occur simultaneously.

The drawings illustrate a conveying and stacking machine for handling basket trays and dollies. This machine includes a dual-speed conveyor adapted to receive basket trays, a chute mounted at a predetermined converging angle above the entrance portion of the conveyor and adapted to receive dollies, an end portion pivotally connected to the downstream end of the chute for at times pivotting into close proximity to the conveyor, a magazine for storing two aligned stacks of dollies, a stacking mechanism for receiving and stacking the trays in end-to-end stacks of a predetermined number per stack and calling for a pair of dollies from the chute, if available, or otherwise from the magazine, the dollies thereupon receiving the respective stacks of basket trays and conveying the two assembled basket tray and dolly stacks at a decreased speed to the exit portion of the conveyor.

Growing community of inventors

Stillwater, MN, United States of America

Keith W Nord