A stacking system including an inverting arm arranged above the stacking system for selectively overturning a first elongated metal member into a second elongated metal member or not overturning the first elongated metal member into the second elongated metal member.

A container collecting device which stacks and collects containers each formed by closing a small-diameter side of a tapered cylinder. The container collecting device comprises that a guide cylinder having an inner diameter larger than the largest outer diameter of the container and extending in a gravity direction, and a supporter that supports the container at a lower end of the guide cylinder; and an actuator to move the container.

The invention provides a container comprising a base for storing and displaying one or more items, and a cover, wherein the container is configurable between a closed position in which the base is covered by the cover and an open position in which at least one item is visible and removable from the base, in use, and wherein at least one of the cover and the base comprises an attachment point or area on a surface thereof, for connecting a base or cover of a second container to the cover or base, in use.

Disclosed are containers that can nest with one another at different heights between the containers based on a relative orientation in which the containers are brought into nesting engagement. Support features (e.g., arranged about an interior of a receiving container and/or about an exterior of a received container) may interact with one another differently based on the particular orientation (e.g., rotational alignment) in which the containers are brought together, which can cause the containers to be supported at different heights relative to one another.

There are disclosed method and system (10) for picking of articles (12), in particular flat-pack articles (12), in accordance with picking orders, wherein the system (10) comprises: a rack (24) extending substantially along longitudinal and height directions (X, Y) of the system (10) and comprising a plurality of storage locations (30) configured to store source pallets (30); a gantry robot (36) including a manipulation unit (37) configured to transfer the articles (16); a packing position (62) configured to buffer a target pallet (34); a plurality of conveyors (38); and a control (74), which is preferably configured to determine, for each of the orders, an order-specific packing pattern for automatically packing, by the gantry robot (36), several of the articles (12) in accordance with the respective order from one or more of the source pallets (30) on a target pallet (34) in the packing position (62); wherein each of the conveyors (38) comprises a receiving position (66), which is positioned within the rack (24) and configured to receive the source pallets (30), as well as a delivering position (58), which is positioned within an action space of the gantry robot (36) and configured to provide, preferably dynamically, the source pallets (30); wherein the gantry robot (36) defines the action space, within which the manipulation unit (37) is movable and which contains the packing position (62) and the delivering positions (58) the conveyor (38); and wherein the control (74) is further configured to cause that such of the source pallets (30) are transported from the storage locations (32) via the receiving positions (66) to the delivering positions (58), which include the articles (12) required for the packing in accordance with the respective packing pattern.

This application relates to tower segment handling methods and apparatus, and in particular to methods and apparatus for handling segments of steel wind turbine towers. The wind turbine tower comprises a plurality of cylindrical vertical tower sections, which in the finished tower are mounted on top of one another. The vertical section of the tower has a longitudinal axis and comprises a plurality of wind turbine tower segments, the tower segments have vertical and horizontal edges and combine to form a complete vertical tower section by joining along their vertical edges. Adjacent vertical tower sections are joined to each other along the horizontal edges of the wind turbine tower segments. The tower segments have support members facilitating storage and transport of the segments. A method of assembling and disassembling a tower section on a roller bed is also disclosed.

A control unit performs a first loading control and a second loading control. The first loading control is performed to control a loading operation unit to load a plurality of target articles onto a first supporting member according to arrangement information. The second loading control is performed to execute a second determination process based on at least one of: the arrangement information; detection information obtained by the detection unit; and information regarding a loading area, to determine whether or not the remaining articles are loadable onto the first supporting member, and to control the loading operation unit to load the remaining articles onto the first supporting member if the remaining articles are determined as being loadable in the second determination process. While performing the first loading control, if the control unit does not determine in the first determination process that the target articles are in a different state, the control unit continues performing the first loading control, and while performing the first loading control, if the control unit determines in the first determination process that the target articles are in the different state, the control unit performs the second loading control instead of the first loading control.

A control unit performs a first loading control and a second loading control. The first loading control is performed to control a loading operation unit to load a plurality of target articles onto a first supporting member according to arrangement information. The second loading control is performed to execute a second determination process based on at least one of: the arrangement information; detection information obtained by the detection unit; and information regarding a loading area, to determine whether or not the remaining articles are loadable onto the first supporting member, and to control the loading operation unit to load the remaining articles onto the first supporting member if the remaining articles are determined as being loadable in the second determination process. While performing the first loading control, if the control unit does not determine in the first determination process that the target articles are in a different state, the control unit continues performing the first loading control, and while performing the first loading control, if the control unit determines in the first determination process that the target articles are in the different state, the control unit performs the second loading control instead of the first loading control.

Disclosed are containers that can nest with one another at different heights between the containers based on a relative orientation in which the containers are brought into nesting engagement. Support features (e.g., arranged about an interior of a receiving container and/or about an exterior of a received container) may interact with one another differently based on the particular orientation (e.g., rotational alignment) in which the containers are brought together, which can cause the containers to be supported at different heights relative to one another.

There are disclosed method and system (10) for picking of articles (12), in particular flat-pack articles (12), in accordance with picking orders, wherein the system (10) comprises: a rack (24) extending substantially along longitudinal and height directions (X, Y) of the system (10) and comprising a plurality of storage locations (30) configured to store source pallets (30); a gantry robot (36) including a manipulation unit (37) configured to transfer the articles (16); a packing position (62) configured to buffer a target pallet (34); a plurality of conveyors (38); and a control (74), which is preferably configured to determine, for each of the orders, an order-specific packing pattern for automatically packing, by the gantry robot (36), several of the articles (12) in accordance with the respective order from one or more of the source pallets (30) on a target pallet (34) in the packing position (62); wherein each of the conveyors (38) comprises a receiving position (66), which is positioned within the rack (24) and configured to receive the source pallets (30), as well as a delivering position (58), which is positioned within an action space of the gantry robot (36) and configured to provide, preferably dynamically, the source pallets (30); wherein the gantry robot (36) defines the action space, within which the manipulation unit (37) is movable and which contains the packing position (62) and the delivering positions (58) the conveyor (38); and wherein the control (74) is further configured to cause that such of the source pallets (30) are transported from the storage locations (32) via the receiving positions (66) to the delivering positions (58), which include the articles (12) required for the packing in accordance with the respective packing pattern.