Turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles
A turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles includes an image input arrangement having cameras arranged over a conveying path to observe from different angles the orientation of an article moving along the conveying path. A first auto-suck unit automatically selects a vertical or a sideward suction nozzle thereof to suck the article in response to an observation result of the image input arrangement, and transfers the sucked article to a suitable turn-over holder on a turn-over unit. The turn-over holder holding the article may be turned over by 180 or 90 degrees as necessary to adjust the article to a desired orientation, so that a second auto-suck unit or an auxiliary supporting unit sucks and transfers the article in the correct orientation from the turn-over unit to an automatic packaging machine for subsequent packaging.
The present invention relates to a turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles, and more particularly to a turn-over mechanism that can automatically detect the orientation of an article moving along a conveying path and turns over the article as necessary for the article to move toward an automatic packaging machine in a correct orientation for subsequent packaging.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIn the field of automatic packaging, the orientation of articles conveyed on a conveyor to an automatic packaging machine has decisive influence on the packaging quality. An article that is asymmetrically shaped is not easily adjusted to a desired orientation during conveying using an automatic feeding mechanism by way of vibration or other manners, and manual orientating and feeding of the asymmetric article is required before the automatic packaging can be implemented. The manual operation inevitably results in reduced working efficiency and increased error rate, and accordingly, increased packaging cost and lowered packaging quality.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles to eliminate problems encountered in the conventional automatic packaging.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA primary object of the present invention is to provide a turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles, so that an article of any shape could be correctly orientated before being fed to an automatic packaging machine.
To achieve the above and other objects, the turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles according to the present invention includes an image input arrangement, a first auto-suck unit, a turn-over unit, a second auto-suck unit, and an auxiliary supporting unit. The image input arrangement includes a plurality of cameras arranged over a conveying path to observe from different angles the orientation of an article moving along the conveying path. The first auto-suck unit automatically selects a vertical or a sideward suction nozzle thereof to suck the article in response to an observation result of the image input arrangement, and transfers the sucked article to a suitable turn-over holder on a turn-over unit. The turn-over holder holding the article is turned over by 180 or 90 degrees as necessary to adjust the article to a desired orientation, and then the second auto-suck unit or the auxiliary supporting unit sucks and transfers the article in the correct orientation from the turn-over holder to an automatic packaging machine for subsequent packaging.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein
FIGS. 7 to 11 are plan views showing the movements of the present invention;
FIGS. 13 to 15 are plan views showing the movements of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Please refer to
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When it is observed that the article Y is seated on the conveyor belt 14 with the bottom D facing upward, the first auto-suck unit 2 automatically sucks the article Y using the vertical suction nozzle 24 and positions the sucked article Y on the third turn-over holder 35 or 350 of the turn-over unit 3, and the article Y is stably held to the third turn-over holder 35 or 350 by a suction force supplied via the suction hole 351 or 3501. Thereafter, the third turn-over holder 35 or 350 is turned over by 180 degrees, as shown in
When it is observed the article Y is seated on the conveyor belt 14 with any one of the sides B, C, E, F facing upward, the first auto-suck unit 2 automatically sucks the article Y using the sideward suction nozzle 25 and positions the sucked article Y on the first or the second turn-over holder 33, 330 or 34, 340, and the article Y is stably held to the first or second turn-over holder 33, 330 or 34, 340 by a suction force supplied via the suction hole 331, 3301 or 341, 3401 or 3501, as shown in
With the above arrangements, an asymmetrically shaped article Y may be effectively adjusted in position in the course of conveyance, so that all the articles Y are uniformly oriented to a desired direction suitable for packaging using the automatic packaging machine 6.
In the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, two power sources 32, 320 are provided on the platform 311 of the turn-over unit 3 to drive two different sets of three turn-over holders. However, it is understood the number of the power sources and of the turn-over holders may be increased or decreased, depending on actual requirements for production efficiency.
Claims
1. A turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles, comprising:
- an image input arrangement including at least two cameras arranged perpendicular to each other in the vicinity of a conveying path for observing and determining the orientation of an article moved forward along said conveying path;
- a turn-over unit located near a terminal end of said conveying path and including at least one power source provided on a platform; said at least one power source being adapted to drive a first and a second turn-over holder directed toward the same direction and a third turn-over located opposite to said second turn-over holder; said first and said second turn-over holder being L-shaped and provided on an upward bent portion with a suction hole, and said third turn-over holder being a flat plate and having a central suction hole provided thereon; said suction holes on said first, said second, and said third turn-over holder being communicating with an external suction device, which supplies a suction force to stably suck and thereby hold said article to said turn-over holder;
- a first auto-suck unit located between said conveying path and said turn-over unit, and including a transversely and longitudinally movable slide provided with a vertical suction nozzle and an L-shaped sideward suction nozzle; said first auto-suck unit being able to automatically select said vertical suction nozzle to suck and position said article on said third turn-over holder, or said sideward suction nozzle to suck and position said article on said first or said second turn-over holder, depending on the orientation of said article as observed via said cameras of said image input arrangement; and said third turn-over holder and said first and said second turn-over holder being adapted to turn over by 180 degrees and 90 degrees, respectively, to adjust said article to a desired orientation on said conveying path;
- an auxiliary supporting unit located at one side of said turn-over unit, and including a pivotally turnable arm and a carrier connected to a free end of said arm; said carrier being provided thereon with a suction hole communicating with said external suction device; and said carrier being pivotally turned along a path crossing with a path along which said turn-over holders of said turn-over unit are moved, so as to suck said article from said third turn-over holder that has been turned over by 180 degrees; and
- a second auto-suck unit located at another side of said turn-over unit, and including a transversely and longitudinally movable slide provided with at least one vertical suction nozzle; said second auto-suck unit being adapted to suck said article that has been adjusted to a desired orientation and held to said first, said second, or said third turn-over holder or said carrier of said auxiliary supporting unit, and position said sucked article on a conveyor of an external automatic packaging machine for subsequent packaging.
2. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said platform of said turn-over unit is provided with a plurality of power sources depending on actual need, and each of said power sources being adapted to drive a separate set of first, second, and third turn-over holders to enable an enhanced production efficiency.
3. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said slides of said first and said second turn-over unit are separately mounted on and brought by a transverse moving gear and a longitudinal moving gear to transversely and/or longitudinally slide in a predetermined plane.
4. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said image input arrangement includes three cameras, two of which are arranged at two opposite sides of said conveying path and the third one of which is arranged above said conveying path, so that said article moving along said conveying path is observed from different angles.
5. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 3, wherein said image input arrangement includes three cameras, two of which are arranged at two opposite sides of said conveying path and the third one of which is arranged above said conveying path, so that said article moving along said conveying path is observed from different angles.
6. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said platform of said turn-over unit is mounted on a top of a rotatable shaft to rotate along with said rotatable shaft.
7. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 3, wherein said platform of said turn-over unit is mounted on a top of a rotatable shaft to rotate along with said rotatable shaft.
8. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 4, wherein said platform of said turn-over unit is mounted on a top of a rotatable shaft to rotate along with said rotatable shaft.
9. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 5, wherein said platform of said turn-over unit is mounted on a top of a rotatable shaft to rotate along with said rotatable shaft.
10. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said power sources on said turn-over unit are selected from the group consisting of motors and rotary cylinders.
11. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 3, wherein said power sources on said turn-over unit are selected from the group consisting of motors and rotary cylinders.
12. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 4, wherein said power sources on said turn-over unit are selected from the group consisting of motors and rotary cylinders.
13. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 5, wherein said power sources on said turn-over unit are selected from the group consisting of motors and rotary cylinders.
14. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 6, wherein said power sources on said turn-over unit are selected from the group consisting of motors and rotary cylinders.
15. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 7, wherein said power sources on said turn-over unit are selected from the group consisting of motors and rotary cylinders.
16. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 8, wherein said power sources on said turn-over unit are selected from the group consisting of motors and rotary cylinders.
17. The turn-over mechanism for packaging asymmetrically shaped articles as claimed in claim 9, wherein said power sources on said turn-over unit are selected from the group consisting of motors and rotary cylinders.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 4, 2005
Publication Date: Oct 6, 2005
Inventors: Chin-Yu Chen (Taipei County), Wei-Hsu Fu (Taipei City)
Application Number: 11/097,804