Gripper for a Container Transport System

Abstract

A gripper for a container-transporter includes a system, first and second arms with corresponding inner faces and a controller disposed between the arms to pivot the arms. A spring pre-loads the arms towards one another. Rollers at the control unit rotate about a central control-axis thereof. The faces are shaped such that, in response to the rollers' movement, they carry out an equiangular and symmetric pivoting between an opened and closed position of the gripper.

Claims

1-19. (canceled)

20. An apparatus comprising a gripper for a container-transport system, said gripper comprising a first pair of arms, a controller, a spring, and first and second rollers, wherein said first pair of arms comprises a first arm that comprises a first face formed thereon and a second arm that comprises a second face formed thereon, wherein said controller is disposed between said first and second arms, wherein said controller pivots said first and second arms towards one another, wherein said spring pre-loads said first and second arms towards each other, wherein said first and second rollers are arranged at said control unit and rotate about a central control-axis thereof, wherein, for pivoting said first arm, said controller guides movement of said first roller along said first face, wherein, for pivoting said second arm, said controller guides movement of said second roller along said second face, wherein said first and second faces are shaped such that, in response to movement of said first and second rollers, said first and second arms carry out an equiangular and symmetric pivoting between an opened and closed position of said gripper, wherein said first and second arms are gripper arms, wherein said first and second rollers are control rollers, wherein said control unit is a rotatable control unit, wherein said first and second faces are inner control faces, and wherein movement along said first face is selected from said group consisting of sliding and rolling.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein each of said faces comprises a proximal section and a distal section, wherein said distal section is closer than said proximal section to where a container is gripped.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said first face has a first curvature at a proximal section thereof and a second curvature at a distal section thereof, wherein said distal section is closer to being linear than said proximal section.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising first and second roller axes, wherein said first roller rotates when said first roller axis rotates and said second roller rotates when said second roller axis rotates.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising first and second roller axes arranged on opposite sides of said central control-axis.

25. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising a common arm axis that is parallel to said central control-axis, wherein said arms are secured to pivot about said common arm-axis.

26. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said gripper further comprises a housing that comprises a back plate, wherein said spring is secured to said back plate.

27. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said spring comprises a proximal end and a distal end, wherein said proximal end is attached to a back plate of a housing of said gripper, wherein a hole in one of said arms receives said distal end, wherein a first distance is a distance between said back plate and said distal end, wherein a second distance is a distance between said back plate and said common arm axis that is parallel to said central control-axis and about which said arms pivot during operation of said gripper, and wherein said first and second distances are equal.

28. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said gripper comprises third and fourth arms that form a second pair of arms, said third and fourth arms being identical to said first and second arms.

29. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said gripper comprises a second pair of arms and said controller operates said first and second pairs of arms concurrently.

30. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said gripper comprises third and fourth arms and wherein said first, second, third, and fourth arms are formed monolithically as a single element.

31. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said gripper comprises a module that comprises said first pair of arms and a second pair of arms.

32. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising a first control cross arranged on a first end of said control axis and a second control cross arranged on a second end of said control axis.

33. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein opposed interacting gripper arms are not coupled by means of a positive-fit and/or non-positive fit element, such as a toothed arrangement, and are not driven in a mutually opposed manner.

35. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising a transporter for transporting containers, wherein said gripper is one of a plurality of grippers on said transporter, said grippers being disposed along a direction along which said transporter transports containers.

36. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said first arm pivots in a first plane and an arm of an adjacent gripper pivots in a second gripper parallel to and offset from said first plane so as not to interfere with pivoting of said first arm.

37. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said gripper is a first gripper and said apparatus comprises a second gripper that is adjacent to said first gripper, wherein said second gripper is rotated 180 degrees relative to said first gripper, wherein when said first arm and a first arm of said second gripper pivots concurrently, said first arm and said first arm of said second gripper are vertically offset from each other.

38. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said gripper is tooth-free.

39. A method comprising receiving a container in a gripper, said gripper comprising gripper comprising first and second arms having corresponding first and second faces formed therein and a controller disposed between said arms for pivoting said arms towards each other, said arms being pre-loaded by a spring, wherein said first and second rollers are arranged at said control unit and rotate about a central control axis thereof, wherein pivoting each of said gripper arms comprises causing said controller to guide movement of said rollers along said faces, said faces being shaped such that, in response to movement of said first and second rollers, said first and second arms carry out an equiangular and symmetric pivoting between an opened and closed position of said gripper, wherein said first and second arms are gripper arms, wherein said first and second rollers are control rollers, wherein said control unit is a rotatable control unit, wherein said first and second faces are inner control faces, and wherein movement along said first face is selected from the group consisting of sliding and rolling, said method comprising opening said first and second arms, receiving container between said first and second arms, and closing said first and second arms, wherein opening said first and second arms comprises causing a first rotation to move said first and second rollers along said first and second faces, thus overcoming a closing force from said spring to open said gripper, wherein closing said first and second arms comprises causing a second rotation, thereby permitting said controller to guide movement of said along said first and second faces under said influence of said spring, which urges said arms into a closed position to close said gripper, and wherein said first and second rotations are rotations of ninety degrees.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0057] An exemplary embodiment of the gripper according to the invention is explained in greater detail hereinafter by reference to the drawings. The figures show:

[0058] FIG. 1 shows three grippers arranged along a transport star,

[0059] FIG. 2 is a top view of the grippers shown in FIG. 1;

[0060] FIG. 3 is a front view of the grippers shown in FIG. 1;

[0061] FIG. 4 is a side view of the grippers shown in FIG. 1; and

[0062] FIG. 5 shows stages in the operation of one of the grippers shown in FIG. 1;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0063] FIG. 1 shows three grippers 1 arranged next to each other along a transport star that transports bottles. Each gripper 1 includes first and second pairs of arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b, all of which pivot around a common arm axis 8, best seen in FIG. 2.

[0064] The gripper 1 is secured to a housing 10 having a back plate 11, best seen in FIG. 2. The back plate 11 secures the gripper 1 to a transport star or to a frame of a transport star.

[0065] Between each pair of arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b is an associated controller 3 that is secured to the housing 10 to permit rotation about a corresponding control axis 6 thereof by an angle close to 360 degrees. At each end of the control axis 6 is a control cross 13 that is secured to the gripper 1.

[0066] For each pair of arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b, there exists a spring 4 that preloads the arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b, thus urging the gripper 1 to remain closed. The spring 4, which is typically a helical spring, has a first end and a second end. The spring's first end is secured to the back plate 11. The spring's second end is secured in a hole 12 that extends along a gripper arm's longitudinal axis.

[0067] As shown in FIG. 1, the arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b are arranged at different heights so that they can cross over one another without interference when pivoted outward as the gripper transitions into its open position. As a result, it is possible to arrange the arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b to be particularly close to each other.

[0068] The controller 3 includes parallel first and second roller axes 9a, 9b that are disposed at equal distances on other side of the control axis 6. Rotating the controller 3 about this control axis 6 causes the roller axes 9a, 9b to move on a common track along a curved path around the control axis 6.

[0069] Each roller axis 9a, 9b includes a corresponding control roller 5a, 5b disposed at the height of its corresponding gripper arm 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b so as to roll or slide along a corresponding control face 7a, 7b of the gripper arm 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b as the roller axis 9a, 9b moves in response to rotation of the controller 3. In doing so, the roller 5a, 5b exerts a force on the arm 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b that counteracts that exerted by the spring 4. As a result, the arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b pivot.

[0070] To ensure that the arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b belonging to the same pair pivot symmetrically regardless of the direction of the pivot, the control faces 7a, 7b have mirror symmetry. In addition, each control face 7a, 7b has proximal section 70 and a distal section 71 that adjoin each other, as shown in FIG. 5.

[0071] The proximal section 70 has a uniform curvature along a path that goes around the control axis 6. The distal section 71 has a much smaller curvature than the proximal section 70, so much so that it is almost linear. As a result, the distance between faces 7a, 7b of the arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b increases along the distal direction of the gripper arm 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b.

[0072] A gripper 1 transitions from being open to receive a container and being closed to grip the container. FIG. 5 shows steps in a gripper's transition from being open to being closed.

[0073] Rotating the controller 3 places the gripper 1 in its open position. It does so by moving the first and second rollers 5a, 5b so that they contact the boundary between the proximal and distal sections 70, 71. The rollers 5a, 5b thus lie along a line that is perpendicular to a bisecting line. This bisecting line is midway between the two arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b. Additionally, the helical springs 4 of the arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b attain their maximum compression.

[0074] Starting from the above open position, rotating the controller 3 through a right angle places the gripper 1 into its closed position. In the closed position, one control roller 5a rolls into position on the distal section 71 and the other control roller 5b rolls into position on the proximal section 70.

[0075] In this closed position, the rollers 5a, 5b lie along the bisecting line. Each roller 5a, eb contacts the control faces 7a, 7b of both arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b. The distalmost roller in the closed position contacts the distal sections 71 of both faces 7a, 7b and the proximal-most roller contacts the proximal sections 70 of both control faces 7a, 7b.

[0076] During the transition from the open state to the closed state, the control rollers 5a, 5b resist the spring's force, thus providing a guided and controlled closure of the arms 2a, 2b, 20a, 20b against the spring force. Once the gripper is in its closed state, it can be reopened by rotating the control axis 6 through a right angle in either the clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.