A device for feeding items to a sorting machine, including: a conveyor plane (26) for feeding items or parcels along an advancement direction (A1); an optical detection device (18), to allow the acquisition, while the items are in motion on the conveyor plane (26) of the three-dimensional coordinates of a determined number of points on the surface of the items and to organize them into coordinate vectors; a manipulator (19) provided to pick the items from the conveyor plane (26) and to place the items picked in a desired position; a control system, provided to process, for each item in motion on the conveyor plane (26), the coordinate vectors in order to obtain a three-dimensional representation of the item, including the information based on which the control system handles the manipulator for picking and placing the items.

The invention also relates to a sorting machine and a method for feeding items to a sorting machine aimed at increasing production capacity and accuracy thereof.

A retention and movement unit of at least one component and at least one container is described. The unit has a moving retention member including, in turn, a frame and a first gripping device with a first retention element, the gripping device having a first configuration for selectively retaining the at least one component by the first retention element. In a first alternative, the first gripping device has a second configuration, different from the first configuration, for selectively retaining the at least one container. In the second alternative, the moving retention member further includes a second gripping device, including a second retention element, the second gripping device having a second configuration, different from the first configuration, for selectively retaining said at least one container.

A packaging assembly and a method of operating such a packaging assembly, the packaging assembly comprises at least one of a thermoform packaging machine, a separation robot, a conveyor and a checkweigher. The separation robot is operable to adjust a distance between packages of a group of packages formed by the packaging machine. The conveyor and the separation robot may be operated together to provide a flow of packages that is supplied to the checkweigher, wherein the flow of packages may include substantially constant distances between the individual packages.

An electrical connection device for connecting a plug, preferably a HV pin header, to a printed circuit board in a motor vehicle, having the following: at least one first electrical connection-device for contacting at least one assigned plug-connector contact; at least one second electrical connection-device contact for contacting at least one assigned printed-circuit-board contact wherein at least one first connection-device contact at least one second connection-device contact are connected to one another, wherein the electrical connection device is configured in such a manner that at least one printed-circuit-board contact is able to be selectively connected to assigned plug-connector contacts which differ in terms of the relative disposal thereof in relation to the printed-circuit-board contact and/or differ from one another in that said plug-connector contacts are a component part of plug connectors which differ from one another in terms of the configuration of the respective plug-connector contacts thereof.

A device for picking articles including a supporting unit and a plurality of gripper heads equipped with respective means for gripping an article and movable relative to the supporting unit along a picking direction. The gripper heads are divided into at least first gripper heads and second gripper heads. The device includes at least a first picking unit, applied to the supporting unit and on which the first gripper heads are positioned in mutually aligned configuration along a first alignment direction, and a second picking unit, applied to the supporting unit and on which the second gripper heads are positioned in mutually aligned configuration along a second alignment direction transversal to the first alignment direction.

An end effector for use in the packaging industry has compression wedges that bookend subgroups of carrier assemblies on the end effector. The compression wedges are attached to the frame of the end effector via wedge blocks, which may be fixed to the frame or slidingly engaged with the frame.

A system and method for a dynamic robot kitting line that can include: processing a set of order requests and setting a packing fulfillment plan process for a robotic kitting line, wherein robotic kitting line comprises a conveyor system, a set of robotic workcells arranged along the conveyor system, and where each robotic workcell includes at least one robotic pick-and-place machine and a set of item bins; and managing operation of the robotic kitting line according to the packing fulfillment plan, which includes: conveying item totes through the set of robotic workcells, and for each item tote, progressively packing items of an order request assigned to an item tote by incrementally packing items at robotic workcells of the set of robotic workcells.

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.