| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 414796500 |
Removes highest article first from stack
| 38 |
| 414797400 |
Removes lowest article first from stack
| 21 |
| 414796200 |
Removes layer as unit
| 10 |
| 414796000 |
Separates stack into smaller stacks
| 8 |
| 414795600 |
Unstacking tapered or nestable articles
| 6 |
| 414795700 |
With means vertically aligning stack | 5 |
| 20080226438 | Separating device - The invention relates to a separating device ( | 09-18-2008 |
| 20090297324 | Supply Module for Pallets, Having a Transport Module Movable Together With a Lifting Device Beneath the Stacking Bays of the Pallets - The invention describes a supply module for stackable pallets, on which workpieces and/or tools can be disposed. On the supply module there are disposed several stacking bays arranged in succession in a row, at each of which a stack of pallets can be mounted in holding means, such as hooks. At least one transport module can be driven along the row beneath the stacking bays, the transport module carrying a lifting device with it. A pallet or a stack of pallets can be gripped from below by the lifting device. The supply module according to the invention can manage a large number of stacking bays, and hence pallets, in a cost-effective manner, even large stack heights being possible. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20100166536 | Apparatus for the separating of stacked plate-shaped elements - The invention relates to an apparatus for the separating of stacked plate-shaped elements. It is the object of the invention to provide possibilities with which stacked plate-shaped elements, in particular plate-shaped elements prone to breakage, can be reliably separated in a short time and to increase the useful operating time of an apparatus. In the invention, a stack of plate-shaped elements is placed onto a lifting device with which a stepped raising in vertical stages takes place. A conveying device for plate-shaped elements is arranged above the stack, with at least one conveying element being fastened to a conveyor belt made in the form of a continuous conveyor or to at least one rotating roller at said conveying device. Conveying elements are made from an elastically deformable material and have at least one end face in the direction of the surfaces of plate-shaped elements to be separated. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20140271088 | ARTICLE FEEDER WITH A RETRACTABLE PRODUCT GUIDE - An automatic stack feeder having a moveable stack or product guide is disclosed. The automatic stack feeder may be configured to receive a stack of articles and a container enclosing a stack of articles. To ensure the stack of articles is properly supported following unloading from the container, the stack guide is moveable between a first and a second position, wherein the stack guide is in contact with the stack of articles while in the first position, and not in contact with the stack when in the second position. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140271089 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF UNLOADING A CONTAINER OF ITEMS - Embodiments of a system and method for unloading articles from a container of items for use in an automatic stack feeder are disclosed. The automatic stack feeder may comprise a belt, a moveable lower paddle, and a moveable upper paddle, wherein the lower paddle is configured to partially extend through a belt of the automatic stack feeder. The movement of the belt, the lower paddle, and the upper paddle are coordinated such that there is no need to interrupt the operation of the automatic stack feeder to unload the container. | 09-18-2014 |
| 414796400 |
With means for reorienting article after unstacking | 4 |
| 20090010748 | Batch forming apparatus, substrate processing system, batch forming method, and storage medium - A batch forming apparatus forms a batch of substrates by combining a plurality of substrates that have been taken out from a plurality of carriers each containing therein the substrates in a stacked manner. The batch forming apparatus includes: a substrate transfer mechanism that takes out the substrates from each carrier and transfer the substrates; a substrate relative positional relationship changing mechanism that rearranges one or more substrates out of the substrates transferred by the substrate transfer mechanism one by one relative to other substrates to change positional relationships of the substrates relative to each other; and a batch forming mechanism that forms a batch of substrates out of the substrates that have been transferred thereto by the substrate transfer mechanism, with positional relationships of the substrates having been changed relative to each other by the substrate relative positional relationship changing mechanism. A substrate processing system includes such a batch forming apparatus, and a substrate processing apparatus that process the batch of substrates formed by the batch forming apparatus. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20140072396 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING A LAMINATION - A method of orienting a selected item from a stack of similar items, the method comprising the steps of separating, engaging and orienting. The separating step separates the selected item from the stack using a first attraction force of a transport apparatus. The engaging step engages the selected item with a second attraction force from the transport apparatus. The second attraction force being greater than the first attraction force. The orienting step orients the selected item relative to the transport apparatus as the transport apparatus is en route to a destination location. | 03-13-2014 |
| 20160001985 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ARTICLE FEEDER OPERATION - Embodiments of a system and method for shingulating, singulating, and synchronizing articles in an article feeder system are disclosed. The article feeder system may include a shingulating device configured to receive a stack of articles and to produce a positively lapped stack of articles, a plurality of picking devices configured to pick one or more articles from the positively lapped stack of articles and to produce one or more singulated articles, and one or more synchronization devices configured to deliver the one or more singulated articles to one or more sorter windows. | 01-07-2016 |
| 20170233200 | A DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DELIVERING A LABORATORY SAMPLE CARRIER FROM A STACK OF SAMPLE CARRIERS | 08-17-2017 |
| 414795500 |
Utilizes fluid blast to remove article | 4 |
| 20090148265 | UNSTACKER APPARATUS HAVING A RETRACTABLE BLOWER MEMBER - Unstacker apparatus ( | 06-11-2009 |
| 20100329833 | Multi-Mode Unstacker Device for Unstacking Mailpieces - A mailpiece unstacker device comprises a feed magazine for moving the mailpieces in a stack and on edge in a certain direction towards an unstacker head. It is provided with materials sensors for delivering signals indicating that a current mailpiece has a cover made of a plastics material and/or includes a metal material. A control unit forces the feed magazine and the unstacker head to operate as a function of the signals generated by the sensors so that the mailpieces are presented facing the unstacker head in positions that are inclined backwards to various extents. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110008145 | METHOD OF, AND APPARATUS FOR, SEPARATING WAFERS FROM A WAFER STACK - In a method of separating wafers ( | 01-13-2011 |
| 20140341693 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR REMOVING A RING-SHAPED LABEL FROM A PACK OF SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL, ABUTTING RING-SHAPED LABELS, LABEL-TRANSFERRING DEVICE AND SYSTEM FOR PRODUCING PLASTIC INJECTION-MOULDED PRODUCTS - A device for removing a ring-shaped label from a pack of substantially identical, abutting ring-shaped labels comprises a pick-up head which is provided with a stop surface and retaining devices for holding a ring-shaped label against the stop surface. The device comprises a storage holder for accommodating the pack of ring-shaped labels. A displacement device can displace the pack of ring-shaped labels from a storage position, in which the pack of ring-shaped labels is situated at a distance from the stop surface of the pick-up head, to a discharge position, in which the pack of ring-shaped labels is pushed against the stop surface of the pick-up head by means of an outer ring-shaped label. A blast of air is delivered when the outer ring-shaped label is held against the stop surface of the pick-up head. The blast of air is directed laterally between the outer ring-shaped label and the adjacent ring-shaped label of the pack of ring-shaped labels, so that the adjacent ring-shaped label is blown off the outer ring-shaped label. | 11-20-2014 |
| 414795900 |
Removes complete tier from multitier stack | 1 |
| 20090324378 | Order-picking system having a rack transport unit and method for operating such a system - An order-picking system and method includes a pallet warehouse ( | 12-31-2009 |
| Entries |
| Document | Title | Date |
|---|
| 20080279672 | BATCH EQUIPMENT ROBOTS AND METHODS OF STACK TO ARRAY WORK-PIECE TRANSFER FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC FACTORY - The present invention generally comprises equipment for an automated high volume batch work-piece manufacturing factory comprising work-piece handling and work-piece processing in a high productivity factory architecture capable of producing 1,000 or more work-piece an hour. The work-pieces may be presented to the equipment from a stacked supply to a parallel array. Additionally, the work-pieces may be transferred between manufacturing architectures by an array to array batch transfer. The work-pieces may be transferred within the manufacturing architecture in a parallel to parallel batch transfer operation. The robotic operations may be between robotic devices, between robotic devices and processing equipment, and within processing equipment. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20090087296 | Carton Feeder Having Friction Reducing Support Shaft - A carton feeder assembly is disclosed for selecting or picking carton blanks from the end of a stack of blanks in a magazine. The assembly includes a magazine and conveyor for moving stacks of carton blanks toward a carton feeder assembly. A support shaft assembly is disposed at the downstream end of the magazine and includes a support shaft against which the forwardmost carton blank in the stack leans and rests to support the stack of carton blanks. The support shaft is eccentrically rotatably mounted and driven by a motor so that the support shaft oscillates rapidly as it is rotated. This motion of the support shaft keeps the forwardmost blank of the stack spaced slightly from and out of contact with the support shaft for a significant majority of the time, thus reducing substantially the average friction between the forwardmost blank and the support shaft. Thus, the forwardmost blank can gripped with suction cups of the feeder assembly, which can then be moved to slide the forwardmost blank from beneath the support shaft and off of the stack of blanks with very little frictional resistance. The suction cups thus stay attached to the blank and do not tend to slide off due to shear forces developed in overcoming frictional resistance. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090257860 | Apparatus and method for unloading trays having a pallet layer loaded - An apparatus and method for unloading a load support, particularly a tray, which can be loaded with at least one packing unit, particularly with a pallet layer of packing units, includes a roller array comprising a plurality of driven rollers, and having a size which corresponds substantially to a size of a loading area of the load support; and a lifting mechanism lifting the roller array or lowering the load support such that the rollers engage through holes within the loading area of the load support, in order to remove from the loading area a packing unit, preferably in a desired manner, by driving the rollers. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090304489 | Method of Feeding Unstacker Apparatus For Unstacking Postal Items - A method of feeding flat items, in particular postal items, into unstacker apparatus ( | 12-10-2009 |
| 20100014954 | Robotic Partial Pallet Product Lifting System - A robotic gantry system, end-effector for a robotic gantry system and method of transporting products using a robotic gantry system is provided. The end-effector includes a movable floor that can be positioned below picked products to prevent products from being dropped during transport. The movable floor also permits selecting individual rows of products from a given layer of products of a product stack. The end-effector may include a vacuum assembly for vacuum adhering to the products. The method permits selection of varying portions of a stack of products with the end-effector and protecting the selected portions of products using the movable floor. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20100183421 | SEPARATOR DEVICE USING BALLS FOR SEPARATING FLAT ARTICLES - A separator device for separating flat articles one-by-one from a stack of flat articles and for conveying them downstream, said separator device comprising at least one flexible bag provided with a plurality of balls and co-operating with a drive member so that, by deforming while said flat articles are being conveyed downstream, it separates said flat articles one-by-one. A particular application lies in separating mailpieces. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20110014025 | FEED DEVICE WITH IMPROVED GRIP - A mailpiece feed device comprising a mailpiece-receiving deck for receiving a stack of mailpieces, conveyor rollers for conveying the mailpieces along a longitudinal referencing wall and towards a separator device designed to separate the mailpieces one-by-one from said stack of mailpieces and to convey them downstream, and, incorporated vertically in said longitudinal referencing wall, at least one friction roller of varying roughness, with its coefficient of friction decreasing from the top to the bottom of said longitudinal referencing wall. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110052362 | METHOD OF DETECTING OPEN MAILPIECES SUCH AS NON-WRAPPED MAGAZINES - The method of detecting a mailpiece of the open mailpiece type such as a non-wrapped magazine consists in causing the mailpiece ( | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110058926 | SEMI-AUTOMATIC AND/OR FULLY-AUTOMATIC ORDER-PICKING SYSTEM - The present invention relates to a semi-automatic and/or fully automatic order-picking system and a corresponding apparatus and a method which facilitates efficient order picking at low technical outlay. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110123307 | MAILPIECE SELECTOR DEVICE HAVING MULTIPLE PIVOTALLY-MOUNTED FINGERS - A mailpiece selector device comprising a guide co-operating with at least one opposing selector roller to separate mailpieces one-by-one from a stack of mailpieces and to transport them downstream, said guide having at least two adjacent selector fingers having different lengths, it being possible for each of said selector fingers to pivot independently from the other(s) about a common pivot axis and against respective associated resilient return means. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110229296 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR STORAGE AND DISPENSING OF ITEMS - A method and apparatus for picking items from a stack of items stored in one of a number of bins in a kiosk dispensary. Each bin has a bin identifier identifying its position in the rack and each bin accommodates one or more items with multiple items in a bin arranged in a stack. Each item in the stack has an order identifier corresponding to its position in the stack. An item to be picked is identified by its bin identifier and order identifier. Items between the item to be picked and an access position of the stack are removed from the stack and parked until the item to be picked is in the access position whereupon it is removed from the bin and an index of order identifiers and bin identifiers is updated to match the repositioning of the items. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20120063876 | SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A SINGULATING BELT IN A MAILPIECE FEEDER - A system for conveying mailpieces along a feed path includes a plurality of conveyances. A first conveyance is operative to convey mailpieces along the feed path and includes a singulating and drive belt. The singulating and drive belts define a throat for singulating a mailpiece from the stack of mailpieces. A second conveyance accepts mailpieces from the first conveyance and conveys singulated mailpiece downstream of the first conveyance. The system further includes a series of sensors extending from the first to the second conveyance for issuing a gap signal indicative of the relative spacing between sequential mailpieces along the feed path. Additionally, the system includes a means, responsive to the gap signal, for developing a variable opposing force between the singulating and drive belts to optimize singulation of mailpieces along the feed path. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120063877 | SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING MAILPIECE CONVEYANCE IN A MAILPIECE FEEDER - A system for conveying mailpieces along a conveyance path and singulating a mailpiece from a stack of mailpieces along the conveyance path. The system includes a first conveyance for conveying mailpieces at a variable velocity and a second conveyance, downstream of the first conveyance, for conveying mailpieces at a constant velocity along the conveyance path. A series of optical sensors extends from the first to the second conveyance and is operative to issue a gap signal indicative of the relative spacing between sequential mailpieces along the conveyance path. A processor is responsive to the gap signal and is operative to control the first conveyance to decrease the relative spacing between sequential mailpieces when the gap signal exceeds a threshold value. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120087770 | Automated Bed-loaded Container Unloader and Method - An automated unloading apparatus, system and method for use with a container having a plurality of items located on a base belt. The apparatus includes a ramp, a conveyor, a stack control curtain, and a tensioning mechanism. The ramp is configured to pass under the base belt. The conveyor is configured to remove a first item from the plurality of items. The stack control curtain is configured to retain a second item of the plurality of items during removal of the first item. The tensioning mechanism is configured to couple to the base belt and maintain a desired tension on the base belt during passage of the nose ramp under the base belt and removal of the first item. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20130064636 | CARTON FEEDING SYSTEM - A carton feeding system is provided for feeding selected cartons from a stack of cartons contained within a carton magazine to a downstream carton conveyor such as for a product packaging machine. A carton picking device removes a selected carton from the stack of cartons within the magazine, after which the carton is engaged between a carton engaging segment of the primary segment wheel and a draw roller, which pulls the carton from the magazine and feeds the carton along a first path of travel. Thereafter, a secondary segment wheel engages and redirects a leading portion of the carton toward a second path of travel. The carton then is fed along its second path of travel toward engagement between a pair of downstream nip rolls that feed the carton into the downstream carton conveyor. | 03-14-2013 |
| 20130071222 | SEPARATING TOOL FOR FEEDING RECEPTACLE - A separating tool for separating out objects one by one from a stack of objects includes a support base, an assembly plate positioned on the support base, a vertical sliding assembly slidably positioned on the assembly plate, and two opposing clamping members connected to the vertical sliding assembly. Each clamping member includes an engaging plate, a connecting shaft fixed to the engaging plate, and a cam base positioned on the support base. The cam base defines a cam slot, and the connecting shaft slides in the cam slot. A distance from a top end of the cam slot to the engaging plate is less than that from a bottom end of the cam slot to the engaging plate, such that the engaging plates of the two clamping members move together when the engaging plates are moved upwards with the connecting shaft. | 03-21-2013 |
| 20130280024 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR DISPENSING SAMPLE HOLDERS - An apparatus and methods for dispensing sample holders for use in an automated sample analyzer is disclosed herein. The apparatus for dispensing sample holders includes a rotating carousel for housing stack of sample holders. Stacks of sample holders from the rotating carousel are fed into a chute where sample holders contact a set of rotating members having helical threads thereon. The helically threaded rotating members engage the sample containers and separate each sample holder from the remaining sample holders in the stack by rotation of the helically threaded rotating members. The sample holder can then be transferred for use in an automated sample analyzer. | 10-24-2013 |
| 20140271087 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF AUTOMATIC FEEDER STACK MANAGEMENT - Embodiments of a system and method for singulating articles in an automatic stack feeder are disclosed. The automatic stack feeder may comprise a pressure sensor on a perforated drive belt assembly configured to sense the pressure exerted by a stack of articles. The sensed pressure may be used to control various portions of the automatic stack feeder, such as a belt or a paddle. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140334909 | Packaging Bag Feeder in Packaging Machine - A packaging bag feeder in a packaging machine includes a bag magazine capable of accommodating a number of packaging bags in a stacked state, a separating mechanism which is configured to separate one of the packaging bags stacked on the bag magazine and a bag placement section on which the separated bag is placed. Every time one bag is placed on the bag placement section, the bag is held and fed to a subsequent packaging step. | 11-13-2014 |
| 20140348625 | APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR UNLOADING LOAD ITEMS FROM A LOADING SPACE - An apparatus for unloading load items, comprising a receiving conveyor having a freely projecting receiving end and a rear delivery end, a removal conveyor and a transfer conveyor arranged therebetween which has a front takeover end adjoining the delivery end of the receiving conveyor and a rear handover end adjoining a head end of the removal conveyor, wherein the transfer conveyor is mounted so as to be pivotable in height about a first swivelling axis arranged at the handover end, and the receiving conveyor is mounted so as to be pivotable in height about a second swivelling axis arranged at the delivery end, wherein the receiving conveyor and the transfer conveyor can be moved, by being swivelled about the first and second swivelling axes, into at least one upper unloading position, in which the transfer conveyor is substantially horizontal before the first swivelling axis, the receiving conveyor is substantially vertical below the second swivelling axis and the receiving end of the receiving conveyor is on the floor of the loading space, or into at least one lower unloading position, in which the receiving conveyor and the transfer conveyor are at an angle of no more than 10°, 20°, 30° or 40° to the horizontal and the receiving end of the receiving conveyor is located on the floor of the loading space, and unloading processes using the apparatus. | 11-27-2014 |
| 20150086319 | APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANIPULATION OF ARTICLES - An apparatus ( | 03-26-2015 |
