A loading/unloading assembly of flat ceramic products comprising: a conveying unit for conveying a plurality of flat ceramic products; at least one loading/unloading device for flat ceramic products for receiving a support structure so that it rests on it and at least one pick-up device for picking up and transferring at least one flat ceramic product from the conveying unit to the support structure, and/or vice versa; the loading/unloading device comprises at least one bearing device for bearing at least said support structure and a plurality of flat ceramic products stacked on top of one another, and a moving device for moving said support structure, between a first position at a first height from said bottom, and at least a second position at a second height from said bottom, the second height is greater than the first height.

The invention concerns a conveyor system for formatting slice-shaped food products in product stacks. The conveyor system includes an inlet, a lower product conveyor, an upper product conveyor, a vertically swiveling distributor conveyor for distributing the incoming food products selectively to the lower product conveyor or to the upper product conveyor, an output conveyor receiving the food products partially stacked from the lower product conveyor and the upper product conveyor, and an outlet for outputting the stacked food products in product rows. The individual conveying tracks of the distributor conveyor can be swivelled vertically independently of one another in order to forward the incoming food products individually for each conveying track selectively to the lower product conveyor onto the upper product conveyor.

A conveyor device for the suspended conveyance of conveyable goods using negative pressure, comprising a continuous conveyor belt guided along a negative-pressure chamber with a rearward side facing towards the negative-pressure chamber. A contact side of the conveyor belt is provided with suction openings formed between the rearward side and the contact side of the conveyor belt. A recess extending in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt and limited by longitudinal edges of the conveyor belt is formed on the contact side such that a suction duct sealed by the longitudinal edges and arranged transversely to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt with respect to the contact side of the conveyable goods is formed between the contact side of the conveyor belt and the contact side of the conveyable goods.

Present embodiments relate to a tie plate orientation device. More specifically, but without limitation present embodiments relate to a tie plate orientation device that orients tie plates in a desired orientation for subsequent feeding, including an optional handheld magnetic device for manual assisted manipulation of the tie plates.

A non-contact support platform with open-loop control, including: a surface, to support a workpiece by fluid-bearing of fluid flowing through a plurality of nozzles, a supply system, connected to the surface and configured to maintain the fluid-bearing by applying pressure to cause flow of the fluid out of a subset of the plurality of nozzles, and a controller, to control fluid flow in the supply system with an open-loop circuit to support the workpiece while it moves over the non-contact support platform, wherein the fluid flow is controlled based on at least parameter of a group of workpiece parameters consisting of a position of the workpiece, dimensions of the workpiece and a velocity of the workpiece while supported by the surface.

In order to be able to grip, clamp and lift stacks of plates and sheets, which consist of vertically oriented individual plates and individual sheets lying on and pressed flat against one another and which have different dimensions, in carrying and handling stations without having to reconfigure them, a load-bearing device is needed which has a simple structure, can be infinitely adjusted, is equipped with an appropriate drive and possesses large clamping and frictional forces, and can be used as an outer gripper on vertical clamping faces. A drive module (2) in the form of an electromotively driven linear drive (4), three angle- and scissor-joint lever assemblies (5) which are arranged symmetrically one below the other, and a gripping finger load-bearing device (8), which can be adjusted and readjusted by means of said lever assemblies and has opposing, clamping, rod-shaped and rigid gripping fingers (10), are mounted on a frame (1). The invention can be used in particular for packing battery modules provided in stack form into battery containers.

The present disclosure relates to assembling, advancing, reorienting, and/or transferring stretched elastic parts during the assembly of absorbent articles. As described herein, a transfer assembly reorients a stretched elastic part from a first orientation, wherein the direction of stretch is generally parallel to the machine direction, to a second orientation, wherein the direction of stretch is generally perpendicular to the machine direction. The reoriented elastic part is then transferred to a carrier while maintaining the stretched condition of the elastic part. The orientation and/or configuration of vacuum apertures in a carrier surface relative to the direction of stretch of the elastic part and relative to the machine direction helps to prevent the elastic part from contracting, while at the same time helps to allow the elastic part to slide off the carrier surface without snagging and/or sticking to aperture perimeter edges.

Equipment for the logistics of slab-shaped articles comprises supply line(s) of slab-shaped article(s) and outlet line(s) of the slab-shaped article(s); robotic gripping assembly(s) of the slab-shaped article(s) provided with at least three degrees of freedom and positioned between the supply line(s) and the outlet line(s); first movement device/unit/component/etc. of the gripping assembly(s) along a direction(s) of movement; where the supply line(s) and said outlet line(s) are substantially aligned to each other along the direction(s) of movement. Equipment also comprises temporary storage stations of the slab-shaped article(s) arranged laterally to the gripping assembly and substantially aligned to each other to define at least one row substantially parallel to the direction of movement, wherein the gripping assembly(s) picks the slab-shaped article(s) coining from the supply line(s); positions the slab-shaped article(s) on the storage station(s); and picks the slab-shaped article(s) from the storage station(s) and bring it to the outlet line(s).

The invention relates to a method for conveying components and to an automated vacuum gripper (1) for components (3), in particular sheet metal parts, comprising a plurality of suction elements (4), which are arranged at a preferably movable support part (5), a first vacuum generator (8) for forming a first vacuum circuit (9), a second vacuum generator (10) for forming a second vacuum circuit (11), at least one switching element connected to a system controller (14) for automated switching of the first vacuum circuit (9) to the second vacuum circuit (11), at least one compressed air supply (15) connected to at least the first and the second vacuum generators (8), at least one sensor device (16, 17), wherein the first vacuum generator (8) is associated with a first predeterminable group (12) of suction elements (4), and the second vacuum generator (10) is connected to a vacuum tank (18) for forming a second vacuum circuit (11), which may be activated in case of emergency and is redundant to the first vacuum circuit (9), and wherein at least one first sensor device is (16) is formed for monitoring the vacuum at least at the first vacuum circuit (9), and at least one second sensor device (17) has an optical sensor for detecting a relative movement of the component (3) during a conveying operation.

The invention relates to an automated vacuum gripper, a feed unit and a method for conveying flat components (3). The vacuum gripper (1) comprises a support part (5), at least one support part element (7), a plurality of first suction elements (4′), which are arranged at the at least one support part element (7) and define a first suction plane; at least one bearing assembly (28) and at least one actuating assembly (29), wherein the at least one support part element (7) is pivotably mounted at the support part (5) by means of the at least one actuating assembly (29) about the at least one bearing assembly (28). The plurality of second elements (4) is arranged at the support part (5) and defines a second suction plane (19). The at least one support part element (7) with its first suction plane defined by the plurality of first suction elements (4′) is pivotable from a standby position that is at an angle relative to the second suction plane into a working position that is congruous with the second suction plane, and vice versa.