Abstract
A robot gripper that takes stacked patties from a conveyor and moves then to a packaging device.
Claims
1. A device for gripping patties from a conveyor and moving them to packaging for said patties comprising: a gripper; said gripper designed to pick up and place individual raw form product and stacks of raw form product; a system of multiple grippers defined as an end of arm tool; said end of arm tool designed to pick up and place individual product in an array of single patties or arrays of stacks of patties or product; gripper motion is guided with pins sliding in a hybrid combination of curved and straight slots; said gripper disengaging from said patty immediately upon actuation of placement operation and not engage said patty until said gripper is closed during picking up or grasping operation; gripper fingers move away faster than force of gravity acting upon patty stack, minimizing changes in altitude of said patty during flight after being dropped; said gripper fingers reach under conveyor surface, conveyor surface being divided into sections with gaps between them providing clearance for said gripper finger to protrude below bottom of said patty.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein said patties are protein patties.
3. The device of claim 1 wherein said patty placement is accurate and repeatable.
4. The device of claim 1 further comprising a 5 patty end of arm tooling for moving up to 400 patties every five minutes.
5. The device of claim 1 further comprising a 2 patty end of arm tooling for moving 275-300 patties every five minutes.
6. The device of claim 1 wherein there is no metal to metal contact for moving parts.
7. The device of claim 1 wherein only food grade lubricants are used.
8. The device of claim 1 wherein each of said grippers in said end of arm tool is independently actuated allowing product to be picked up or placed from and to multiple locations, not as a group, but used in unison.
9. A device for moving food patties comprising: a gripper; said gripper comprised of fingers that are placed under a patty that create no interference; a single actuation; two angle adapters; two motion spacers; guided pins and hybrid slots that allow said gripper to move in straight and complex curves; a cage that keeps patties from moving while gripped.
10. A method of moving patties comprising: placing an individual gripper in an open position; surrounding a stack of patties on a conveyor; moving said gripper along said conveyor belt; placing said gripper around said patty in a closed position; surrounding said patty with a cage and having fingers underneath said patty; placing said patties in a tray device for packaging.
11. A gripper device comprising: two finger assemblies; each finger assembly comprising a cage, patty grip fingers, and a patty grip arm; two motion spacers; two angle adapters; a part that changes motion from up and down to opening and closing of said gripper.
12. The gripper device of claim 11 wherein said part comprises a coupling bearing attached to an actuator pin and pneumatic rod connect that connect a connector actuator to said coupling bearing.
13. The gripper device of claim 11 further comprising air fittings.
14. The gripper device of claim 11 further comprising a pneumatic actuator and pneumatic actuator adapter.
15. A robotic gripper conveyor tray device comprising: a conveyor; trays; grippers; arms having grippers within said arms; said arms having said grippers located above said conveyor and in an open position; said conveyor having raw patties on it; said gripper gripping said patties from said conveyor and moving said patties onto said trays; said trays located on a tray moving device.
16. The device of claim 15 wherein said arms can pick up five stacks of food from said conveyor.
17. The device of claim 15 wherein said arm has up to twelve grippers.
18. The device of claim 15 wherein stacks of patties are placed one or two per drop until all of said grippers are empty before returning to said conveyor.
19. The device of claim 15 wherein said trays are of any size and shape as long as they have two locatable edges for guidance.
20. The device of claim 15 wherein said arm with said grippers drops individual stacks in prescribed packaging tray locations.
21. The device of claim 15 wherein said arms containing said grippers independently drop stacks of said patties in multiple locations while said trays are moving.
22. The device of claim 21 further comprising a programmed control system that tracks position of said tray on said tray moving device.
23. The device of claim 15 wherein after final stack of said patties is dropped into said tray, said robotic gripper robot returns to said conveyor and picks another array of stacks.
24. The device of claim 15 wherein a first and second robotic gripper work in tandem with dependent algorithm allowing spaces in said trays to be filled by said second robotic gripper.
25. The device of claim 15 wherein said device comprises removable upper and lower end guards and removable transition cover.
26. A gripper device comprising: an adapter; a motion spacer; motion plate; two stack finger weldment; pin actuator; and pin hold; said gripper having no metal to metal contact for moving parts; each gripper being part of an end of arm tool that is independently actuated allowing product to be picked or place from and to multiple locations, not as a group.
27. The device of claim 26 wherein said grippers are used in unison.
28. The device of claim 26 wherein said gripper device allows placement of single or multiple product into multiple locations or packaging.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0038] FIG. 1a shows a front view of a prior art clamshell gripper with a formed raw patty.
[0039] FIG. 1b shows a front view of a prior art clamshell gripper.
[0040] FIG. 2a shows a front view of a gripper of the present invention with a formed food patty.
[0041] FIG. 2b shows a front view of a gripper of the present invention.
[0042] FIG. 3a shows a top view of a two patty five stack gripper of the present invention.
[0043] FIG. 3b shows a front view of a two patty five stack gripper of the present invention.
[0044] FIG. 3c shows a top side view of a two patty five stack gripper of the present invention.
[0045] FIG. 3d shows a side view of a two patty five stack gripper of the present invention.
[0046] FIG. 4 shows a side view of the five stack gripper device of the present invention.
[0047] FIG. 5 shows a side view of the five stack gripper device of the present invention.
[0048] FIG. 6 shows a side view of the grippers gripping and transferring the patties.
[0049] FIG. 7 shows a side view of a gripper gripping multiple patties.
[0050] FIG. 8 shows a front view of a gripper that is about to grip multiple patties.
[0051] FIG. 9 shows a top view of the conveyor of the present invention.
[0052] FIG. 10 shows a front view of the device of the present invention.
[0053] FIG. 11 shows a top view of the gripper and conveyor device of the present invention.
[0054] FIG. 12 is a top unassembled view of the gripper of the present invention.
[0055] FIG. 13 is a side unassembled view of the gripper of the present invention.
[0056] FIG. 14 is a side unassembled view of the gripper of the present invention.
[0057] FIG. 15 is a bottom unassembled view of the gripper of the present invention.
[0058] FIG. 16a is a bottom view of the gripper and conveyor assembly of the present invention.
[0059] FIG. 16b is a side view of the gripper and conveyor assembly through section A-A of FIG. 16a of the present invention.
[0060] FIG. 16c is a view through section A in FIG. 16b.
[0061] FIG. 16d is a view through section B-B of FIG. 16a of the present invention.
[0062] FIG. 16e is a view through section B in FIG. 16d.
[0063] FIG. 16f is a front view of the gripper and conveyor assembly of the present invention.
[0064] FIG. 16g is a is a view through section C-C of FIG. 16f of the present invention.
[0065] FIG. 16h is a view through section C in FIG. 16h.
[0066] FIG. 17 is a top side view of a patty tray filling device.
[0067] FIG. 18 is a top side view of a patty tray filling device.
[0068] FIG. 19 is a top view of a patty tray filling device.
[0069] FIG. 20 is a side view of a patty tray filing device.
[0070] FIG. 21 is an end view of a patty tray filling device.
[0071] FIG. 22 is a top view of the gripper device as part of the patty tray filling device.
[0072] FIG. 23 is a side view of the gripper device as part of the patty tray filling device.
[0073] FIG. 24 is an end view of the gripper device as part of the patty tray filling device.
[0074] FIG. 25 is a top side view of the gripper device as part of the patty tray filling device.
[0075] FIG. 26 is a top side view of the gripper device as part of the patty tray filling device.
[0076] FIG. 27 is a top side view of a 5 patty end of arm tooling.
[0077] FIG. 28 is a top side view of a 2 patty end of arm tooling.
[0078] FIG. 29 is a top side view of a gripper of the present invention.
[0079] FIG. 30 is a top view of a gripper with side supports and front guide plate removed.
[0080] FIG. 31 is a top side view showing the product flow of the patties on the conveyor and the grippers.
[0081] FIG. 32 is a top side view of the first stack of patties being dropped into the tray by the grippers.
[0082] FIG. 33 is a rear view showing a second stack of patties being dropped into a tray by the grippers.
[0083] FIG. 34 is a rear view showing a third stack of patties being dropped into a tray by the grippers.
[0084] FIG. 35 is a rear view showing a fourth stack of patties being dropped into a tray by the grippers.
[0085] FIG. 36 is a side view showing a fifth stack of patties being dropped into a tray by the grippers.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0086] FIG. 1a shows a prior art conventional clamshell gripper 10, for gripping a formed raw patty 12. Using the gripper 10 creates a gripper interference path 14 that creates a continuous massive interference. FIG. 1b shows the prior art gripper 10 having a tension spring 16, fix slot pin guided 18, pin guided motion 20 and single actuation 22.
[0087] FIG. 2a shows the gripper 30 and the formed raw patty 32. The gripper 30 creates a finger part 34 under the patty 32 that creates no interference when lifting the patty 32.
[0088] FIG. 2b shows the gripper 30 having a single actuation 40, two angle adapters 42 and two motion spacers 44. Gripper 30 further has guided pins and hybrid slots 46 for straight and complex curves. Cage 48 keeps patties from moving while gripped. The cage 48 is made from aluminum machined parts. The gripper 30 can be manufactured or 3D printed. FIG. 2b further comprise fingers 50 for going under the formed raw patty 52. FIG. 2b further shows the gripper 30 and the motion spacers 46.
[0089] FIG. 3a shows a top view of a set of five grippers 60, 62, 64, 66, and 68. Each gripper has a cage 70. FIG. 3b shows a front view of gripper 72 having cage 74 and finger 76 holding 2 raw patties 78.
[0090] FIG. 3c shows a side view of the two patty five stack gripper device 80, each gripper device having a cage 84, finger 86 and adaptor 88. The gripper holding two raw formed patties 82. FIG. 3d is a side view of the gripper device 80.
[0091] FIG. 4 shows a side view of the two patty five stack gripper device 90 over a conveyor belt 92, each gripper 94 having two patties 96.
[0092] FIG. 5 shows a side view of the two patty five stack gripper device 90 over a conveyor belt 92, each gripper 94 having two patties 96.
[0093] FIG. 6 shows a side view of an individual gripper 100 in the open position 102 surrounding a stack of patties 104, and then further along the conveyor belt, an individual gripper 110, in the closed position 112 having the patties 114 within the gripper 110.
[0094] FIG. 7 shows a front view of an individual gripper 120 in the closed position surrounding a stack of patties 126 surrounded by a cage 122 having fingers 124 underneath the patties 126.
[0095] FIG. 8 shows a front view of an individual gripper 120 in the open position about to grasp a stack of patties 126. The gripper 120 has a cage 122 and fingers 124.
[0096] FIG. 9 is a top view of the conveyor 130 and the tray device 132.
[0097] FIG. 10 is a front expanded view of FIG. 5.
[0098] FIG. 11 is a top side view of a conveyor 140 having two sets of gripper devices 142 and 144.
[0099] FIG. 12 is an unassembled top view of a gripper device 150. The motion of the gripper device 150 is a complex curve. The gripper device 150 is made of two finger assemblies 156. The finger assembly 156 is made up of a cage 152, patty grip fingers 154, and a patty grip arm 178. Also included in the gripper device 150 is two motion spacers 160 and 174. Also included are two angle adapters 162 and 172. A coupling bearing 176 is attached to an actuator pin 158, pneumatic rod connect 164 that connects the connector actuator to the coupling bearing 176. Coupling bearing 176 changes the motion from up and down to opening and closing of the gripper 150. The gripper 150 further comprises air fittings 166. The gripper 150 is further comprised of a pneumatic actuator 168 and pneumatic actuator adapter 170. Compressed air makes the piston move down, while released air makes the piston move up.
[0100] FIG. 13 is an unassembled side view of gripper device 150. The gripper device 150 is made of two finger assemblies 156. The finger assembly 156 is made up of a cage 152, patty grip fingers 154, and a patty grip arm 178. Also included in the gripper device 150 is two motion spacers 160 and 174. Also included are two angle adapters 162 and 172. A coupling bearing 176 is attached to an actuator pin 158, pneumatic rod connect 164 that connects the connector actuator to the coupling bearing 176. Coupling bearing 176 changes the motion from up and down to opening and closing of the gripper 150. The gripper 150 further comprises air fittings 166. The gripper 150 is further comprised of a pneumatic actuator 168 and pneumatic actuator adapter 170. Compressed air makes the piston move down, while released air makes the piston move up.
[0101] FIG. 14 is an unassembled side view of a gripper device 150. The gripper device 150 is made of two finger assemblies 156. The finger assembly 156 is made up of a cage 152, patty grip fingers 154, and a patty grip arm 178. Also included in the gripper device 150 is two motion spacers 160 and 174. Also included are two angle adapters 162 and 172. A coupling bearing 176 is attached to an actuator pin 158, pneumatic rod connect 164 that connects the connector actuator to the coupling bearing 176. Coupling bearing 176 changes the motion from up and down to opening and closing of the gripper 150. The gripper 150 further comprises air fittings 166. The gripper 150 is further comprised of a pneumatic actuator 168 and pneumatic actuator adapter 170. Compressed air makes the piston move down, while released air makes the piston move up.
[0102] FIG. 15 is a bottom unassembled view of a gripper device 150. The gripper device 150 is made of two finger assemblies 156. The finger assembly 156 is made up of a cage 152, patty grip fingers 154, and a patty grip arm 178. Also included in the gripper device 150 is two motion spacers 160 and 174. Also included are two angle adapters 162 and 172. A coupling bearing 176 is attached to an actuator pin 158, pneumatic rod connect 164 (not shown) that connects the connector actuator to the coupling bearing 176. Coupling bearing 176 changes the motion from up and down to opening and closing of the gripper 150. The gripper 150 is further comprised of a pneumatic actuator 168 (not shown) and pneumatic actuator adapter 170. Compressed air makes the piston move down, while released air makes the piston move up.
[0103] FIG. 16a shows a bottom view of the robotic gripper/conveyor/tray device 180. The device is comprised of conveyor 182, trays 184 and grippers 186.
[0104] FIG. 16b is a view of section A-A of FIG. 16a showing a front view of the grippers 186 above the conveyor 182, and the trays 184.
[0105] FIG. 16c is a detailed view of section A of FIG. 16b showing one of the grippers 186.
[0106] FIG. 16d is a view of section B-B of FIG. 16a showing a front view of the grippers 186 on the conveyor 182.
[0107] FIG. 16e shows a detailed view of section B of FIG. 16d. A detailed view of gripper 186 is shown.
[0108] FIG. 16f shows a front view of the device 180. The device is comprised of conveyor 182, trays 184 and grippers 186.
[0109] FIG. 16g is a view of section C-C of FIG. 16f showing a side view of the gripper 186.
[0110] FIG. 16h is a detail view of section C of FIG. 16g. The figure shows the gripper 186 in the open position around raw patties 188.
[0111] FIG. 17 shows a top side view of the complete patty tray filling system 200, from the making of the patties to placing the formed patties onto a tray.
[0112] FIG. 18 shows a top side view of the complete patty tray filling system 200, from the making of the patties to placing the formed patties onto a tray.
[0113] FIG. 19 shows a top view of the complete patty tray filing system 200, from the making of the patties to placing the formed patties onto a tray.
[0114] FIG. 20 shows a side view of the complete patty tray filling system 200, from the making of the patties to placing the formed patties onto a tray.
[0115] FIG. 21 shows an end view of the complete patty tray filling system 200, from making of the patties to placing the formed patties onto a tray.
[0116] FIG. 22 shows a top view of the robotic gripper/conveyor/tray device 220.
[0117] FIG. 23 shows a side view of the robotic gripper/conveyor/tray device 220.
[0118] FIG. 24 shows a front view of the robotic gripper/conveyor/tray device 220.
[0119] FIG. 25 shows a top view of the robotic gripper/conveyor/tray device 230. The device 230 shows the robotic gripping devices 232, which are rated for hygienic processing plants. The device further comprises removable upper end guards 234, removable transition covers 236 and removable lower end guards 238. The device comprises a conveyor 240 removed from the end or sides, removed skirt guards 242, removable upper guards 246 and hinged doors 244.
[0120] FIG. 26 shows a top side view of the robotic gripper/conveyor/tray device 230.
[0121] FIG. 27 shows a side view of the five patty end of arm tooling 250, that is capable of loading 400 patties per minute.
[0122] FIG. 28 shows a side view of the two patty end of arm tooling 260 that is capable of loading 275-300 patties per minute.
[0123] FIG. 29 shows a top view of the gripper 270 showing an adapter 272, a motion spacer 274 and a motion plate 276. The gripper 270 further comprises a two stack finger weldment 278, a pin actuator 280 and a pin hold 282. The gripper 270 has no metal to metal contact for moving parts. The parts are machined aluminum components that are anodized. Only food grade lubricants are used. The design of gripper 270 allows for the picking and placing of individual raw formed product and stacks of raw formed product. The complete system of multiple grippers combined is termed an “End of Arm Tool”. The End of Arm Tool is used to pick and place individual product in an array(s) of single patties or arrays of stacks of patties or product. Each individual gripper in the End of Arm Tool can be independently actuated allowing the product to be picked or placed from and to multiple locations, not as a group, but could be used in unison if advantageous. This independence allows the placement of single or multiple product into multiple locations or packaging.
[0124] FIG. 30 shows the gripper 270 with side supports and front guide plate removed. The gripper 270 comprises a pneumatic actuator 290, SS pins 292 that press fit into gripper arms. The gripper 270 comprises a coupling bearing 294 and a rod connect 296. The gripper 270 comprises a gripper arm 298, a cage 300 and fingers 302.
[0125] FIG. 31 shows the conveyor 310 and the tray moving device 312 having trays 314 and formed patties 316. Arms 318 having grippers 320 are located over the conveyor 310. Arrow 322 shows the direction of flow of the product. Robots with End of arm tools are picking 5 stacks of food from the patty conveyor. The End of Arm Tool, with up to 12 grippers, picks the stacks once for each cycle. The stacks are then placed one or two per drop until all the grippers are empty before returning to the Patty conveyor to pick another array of stacks. Trays 314 can be any size and shape as long as they have two locatable edges for guidance.
[0126] FIG. 32 shows the conveyor 310 and the tray moving device 312 having trays 314 and formed patties 316. Arms 318 having grippers 320 are located over the conveyor 310. The figure shows that the Tool can drop individual stacks in prescribed packaging tray locations. Since the spacing of the stacks on the patty conveyor are not always equal to the location spacing in the tray, the tools can independently drop stacks in multiple locations while the trays are moving. The programmed control system tracks the tray's position on the tray conveyor.
[0127] FIG. 33 shows a front view of the conveyor 310 and the tray moving device 312 having trays 314. Arms 318 having grippers 320 are located over the trays 314. The figure shows a second stack of formed raw patties being dropped into a tray 314.
[0128] FIG. 34 shows a front view of the conveyor 310 and the tray moving device 312 having trays 314. Arms 318 having grippers 320 are located over the trays 314. The figure shows a third stack of formed raw patties being dropped into a tray 314.
[0129] FIG. 35 shows a front view of the conveyor 310 and the tray moving device 312 having trays 314. Arms 318 having grippers 320 are located over the trays 314. The figure shows a fourth stack of formed raw patties being dropped into a tray 314.
[0130] FIG. 36 shows a front view of the conveyor 310 and the tray moving device 312 having trays 314 and formed raw patties 316. Above the trays 314 is the arm 318 having grippers 320. FIG. 36 shows the fifth stack being dropped into a tray 314. After the final stack is dropped into the tray 314, the gripper robot returns to the patty conveyor 310 and picks another array of stacks. Both robot grippers work in tandem with dependent algorithm allowing spaces in the trays to be filled by the second robot and end of arm tools.
