Embodiments of product handling systems facilitate transfer of individual product items from incoming bulk form into dedicated trays for inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging. Inspection may comprise interrogation of product items within a tray by electromagnetic (e.g., optical, hyperspectral) or other (e.g., physical, acoustic, gas sensing, etc.) techniques. Prior to packaging, product items disposed within the tray may be stored in a moveable carousel responsible for controlling environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, illumination, ambient gases, product-to-product interactions, and/or others. Movement of product items from a carousel's transfer station to an outside staging position may be accomplished using robots and/or conveyor belts. Embodiments may allow rapid, low-cost consumer selection of specific individual product items based upon their accompanying metadata (e.g., source, identifier), in combination with the results of inspection (e.g., visual appearance). Embodiments may receive product items pre-packaged in tray format to expedite inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging.

A strapping system is mountable to an end effector of a robotic arm for automatically applying strapping to an object. The strapping system has: a frame; a strapping head mounted to the frame; a fixed vertical track section mounted to the frame; a lower track section mounted to the frame below the strapping head; an upper track section mounted to the frame above the strapping head; and, a movable track section mounted to a distal end of one of the upper or lower track sections.

The movable track section is movable from a first open position to a second closed position, and cooperates with the lower track section, the upper track section and the vertical track section when in the second closed position to form a chute for advancing strapping around the object.

Embodiments of product handling systems facilitate transfer of individual product items from incoming bulk form into dedicated trays for inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging. Inspection may comprise interrogation of product items within a tray by electromagnetic (e.g., optical, hyperspectral) or other (e.g., physical, acoustic, gas sensing, etc.) techniques. Prior to packaging, product items disposed within the tray may be stored in a moveable carousel responsible for controlling environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, illumination, ambient gases, product-to-product interactions, and/or others. Movement of product items from a carousel's transfer station to an outside staging position may be accomplished using robots and/or conveyor belts. Embodiments may allow rapid, low-cost consumer selection of specific individual product items based upon their accompanying metadata (e.g., source, identifier), in combination with the results of inspection (e.g., visual appearance). Embodiments may receive product items pre-packaged in tray format to expedite inspection, sorting, selection, and packaging.

A wrapping apparatus and method utilize a corner rotation angle-based wrap control that controls the rate at which packaging material is dispensed based on the rotational position of one or more corners of the load determined during relative rotation established between the load and a packaging material dispenser.

A wrapping apparatus and method utilize a rotational data shift to a wrap speed model to offset system lag.

A wrapping apparatus and method recalculate the calculated location of at least one corner of a load at one or more elevations during relative rotation between the load and a packaging material dispenser to accommodate variations in length, width and/or offset of the load at different elevations.

An orbital wrapping apparatus for wrapping a cargo in a stretch film is provided and generally includes a base frame, a circular ring assembly mounted on the base frame, a stretch film dispenser mounted on the circular ring assembly, and a cutting assembly mounted to the base frame and extending through an opening defined by the circular ring assembly. The stretch film dispenser includes a roll of stretch film dispensing the stretch film by rotation of the circular ring assembly, a subframe fixed to the circular ring assembly and the roll of stretch film is mounted on a loading assembly attached to the subframe, and a first feed roller and a second feed roller are mounted to a portion of the subframe that is movable between a first position adjacent to an axis extending through the first and second end caps and a second position spaced further apart from the axis. The cutting assembly is adapted to cut and hold the stretch film.

A packaging machine using extensible film for products fed in groups or individually includes a conveyor feeding the product, a product positioning unit, a film winding unit and a discharge conveyor positioned at the outlet of the winding unit. The winding unit is a ring winder having a ring rotating with respect to guiding rolls, positioned on a supporting frame, and arranged on a plane perpendicular to the advance direction of the products. A shelf is provided beneath the winding unit, cantilevered for extending in the advance direction of the products, and connects the feeding conveyor with the winding unit. A vacuum-effect gripping unit is positioned beneath the shelf for gripping the film and carries a cutting unit. The vacuum-effect gripping unit and the cutting unit can be moved alternatingly and selectively from a withdrawn rest position of the shelf to an extended position for gripping and cutting the film.

A self-propelled wrapping machine movable around a load to wrap the load with a film of plastic material, comprises a wrapping apparatus, which includes a supporting base, a column fixed thereto and an unwinding unit slidably supported by the column and suitable to supply the film unwound from a reel; and an automatic guided vehicle movable and arranged to be reversibly and automatically coupled to the supporting base in an assembled condition of the self-propelled wrapping machine to support and move the wrapping apparatus around the load and enable to wrap the load with the film.

A method, apparatus and program product perform automatic load profiling to optimize a wrapping operation performed with a stretch wrapping machine. Automatic load profiling may be performed, for example, to determine a density parameter for a load that is indicative of load stability such that one or more control parameters may be configured for a wrapping operation based upon the density parameter. Automatic load profiling may also be performed, for example, to detect a load with a nonstandard top layer, e.g., a load with a top or slip sheet, a load with an easily deformable top layer, a load with a ragged top surface topography and/or a load with an inboard portion, such that a top layer containment operation may be activated during wrapping to optimize containment for the load.