An apparatus for sorting and stacking slab-shaped elements has an inlet line; plural suction gripping units; a sorting carousel rotatable around an axis and including multiple carousel arms mutually solidly constrained and each bearing a respective one of the plurality suction gripping units; a plurality of seats for receiving the slab-shaped elements, forming stacks thereof; and a support crown solidly constrained to a frame. The carousel axis and an axis of the support crown coincide with one another. Each carousel arm is supported by the support crown at or in proximity of a respective free end. A first slab-shaped element from the inlet line can be gripped by a first one of the suction gripping units, rotated by a first one of the carousel arms which bears the first suction gripping unit, and released by the first suction gripping unit on a first of the seats.

The invention relates to a turning apparatus for a production plant (2) for sanitary products, in particular adult or baby diapers, the turning apparatus having a drum (12) which rotates about a geometrical drum rotational axis (11), and at least one plate (14) which is spaced apart radially from the drum rotational axis (11) and is coupled to the drum (12), which plate (14) comprises a suction face (15) for the transport of sanitary material pieces (16), which suction face (15) holds the respective sanitary material piece (16) by means of a vacuum during the transport, the plate (14) having a geometrical vertical axis (17) which runs radially with respect to the drum rotational axis (11), the plate (14) receiving the sanitary material piece (16) with a first orientation about the vertical axis (17) in a first transfer region (18), and transporting the sanitary material piece (16) from the first transfer region (18) to a second transfer region (20) along a setpoint transfer path (19) which runs in the circumferential direction around the drum rotational axis (11), the suction face (15) being rotated with the sanitary material piece (16) about the vertical axis (17) during the transport, the plate (14) outputting the sanitary material piece (16) in the second transfer region (20) with a second orientation which is different than the first orientation about the vertical axis (17). It is proposed that, during the receiving and/or outputting, the plate (14) carries out a non-linear compensation movement relative to the drum (12) with a radial movement component.

A stacking apparatus for preparing food portions comprises at least one product support movable between a feed position and a depositing position, wherein, in the feed position of the product support, a part portion of the food portion to be prepared can be conveyed along a conveying direction onto a support surface of the product support, and wherein the stacking apparatus is configured to place the part portion conveyed onto the product support beneath the product support by moving the product support into the depositing position, in particular to stack the part portion conveyed onto the product support on a previously placed part portion. In the product support, at least one pneumatic channel is furthermore formed that can be connected to a device for generating a pressure difference and that has at least one orifice into the support surface.

A processing system including a singulation system is disclosed. The singulation system includes a conveying system for moving objects to be sorted from a source area along a first direction, a detection system for detecting objects at the conveying system, and for selecting certain selected objects for removal from the conveying system, and a removal system for removing the certain selected objects from the conveying system for providing a singulated stream of objects.

An adjustable joint for insertion into a linkage of a substrate handler utilized for substrate processing. The adjustable joint allows for adjusting the pitch and roll of an attached link. Such adjustment may permit aligning a pickup surface of an end effector to a desired plane. Once adjusted, the joint may be fixed to maintain the desired orientation of the attached link. The adjustable joint allows for correcting deflection of a pickup surface of an end effector relative to a desired pickup plane due to, for example, drooping caused by high temperature usage, mechanical tolerances and/or installation errors.

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for concentric suction cup tools with parallel pistons. In one embodiment, an example picking assembly may include a first piston subassembly with a first air cylinder, a first sliding rail that slides relative to the first air cylinder, and a first suction cup. The example picking assembly may include a second piston subassembly comprising a second air cylinder, a second sliding rail that slides relative to the second air cylinder, and a second suction cup, where the first and second piston subassemblies may be configured to independently actuate from a retracted position to an extended position. The example picking assembly may include a first guide plate with a first aperture for the first piston subassembly and a second aperture for the second piston subassembly, a shell that forms a housing for the picking assembly, and an airflow coupler.

An adjustable joint for insertion into a linkage of a substrate handler utilized for substrate processing. The adjustable joint allows for adjusting the pitch and roll of an attached link. Such adjustment may permit aligning a pickup surface of an end effector to a desired plane. Once adjusted, the joint may be fixed to maintain the desired orientation of the attached link. The adjustable joint allows for correcting deflection of a pickup surface of an end effector relative to a desired pickup plane due to, for example, drooping caused by high temperature usage, mechanical tolerances and/or installation errors.

The disclosure relates to a device for automatically lifting a packing material comprising a lifting element movable between a lower removal position and an upper transfer position, a vacuum source configured to create a negative pressure, a drive element, and a suction element, which has at least one opening of a vacuum line and is mechanically connected to the lifting element and is fluidically connected to the vacuum source by means of the vacuum line. The lifting element is configured to place the suction element on an uppermost packing material of a stack of packing materials by its weight force in the lower removal position, wherein the opening of the vacuum line can be closed in an airtight manner, and wherein the lifting element is configured to move together with the sucked packing material into the upper transfer position.

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.

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.