A method for depalletising a ream of cartons wrapped by a strap. The method may include collecting, by a robot gripping head, the ream of cartons placed on a pallet. Collecting the ream may include exerting a suction force on the ream by one or more suction mouths. The method may also include moving a first arm and a second arm to position the first arm and the second arm below the ream and retain the ream in a positioning zone obtained in the head.

A pick-up device picking up stacked sheet-shaped workpieces from the top, the device includes a nozzle mechanism that pulls up a first workpiece from the top of the stacked workpieces by air blowing, a holding mechanism that holds the first workpiece, a separation mechanism that includes a claw member being inserted into a lower side of the first workpiece with respect to the stacked workpieces, and a forward and backward drive unit causing a tip part of the claw member to move forward and backward, a suction mechanism that pulls up the first workpiece, a control device that controls the above four mechanisms, and a selection unit that selects one or more combinations of the nozzle mechanism, the separation mechanism, and the suction mechanism. The control device controls an operation for picking up the stacked workpieces from the top according to the selection of the selection unit.

A separating structure of a laser engraving machine having a base seat, a transport mechanism, and a separating mechanism. The base seat has a waiting area for the workpieces being stacked and a processing area, the transport mechanism includes a driving source and a transfer member electrically connected to the driving source, the transfer member carries the workpieces, the separating mechanism is arranged on the waiting area and has two forks that are capable of switching between a standby position and a detached position. When the forks are located at the standby position, the workpieces are stacked on the transfer member. When the forks are located at the detached position, the forks carry the other workpieces above the workpiece carried by the transfer member, the driving source drives the transfer member to move to the processing area for processing the workpiece.

The problem of potentially damaging a pallet layer that is gripped by clamps of a depalletizing tool is solved i) by detecting the real position of the layer using a pad on the tool that is movable with the clamps towards the pallet layer and whose detected stopping position determines the real position of the layer, and ii) while the layer is gripped by the clamp, by inserting under the layer curtains; the pressure on the layer by the clamps being adapted to the ease to go underneath the layer.

A device for unstacking a stack that is constructed of part-stacks of flat printed products arranged next to one another and on top of one another. The device has a separating apparatus for forming a gap between a respective part-stack and the stack, and a gripping apparatus for gripping and lifting the respective part-stack utilizing the gap. A first robot moves the gripping apparatus during unstacking and a second robot moves the separating apparatus separately. The two robots may be structurally identical gantry robots on a common gantry frame. The processing speed may be increased when depalletizing stacks due to process parallelization. The unstacking process is particularly suitable in a postpress context where printed products are further processed.

An end effector includes a base, a first leg, a second leg, a first arm, and a second arm. The first leg is connected to the base. The second leg is connected to the base and is offset from the first leg. The first arm is pivotably connected to the first leg. The second arm is pivotably connected to the second leg. The first leg and the first arm are configured to releasably hold a first portion of a dunnage unit. The second leg and the second arm are configured to releasably hold a second portion of the dunnage unit.