The invention relates to a method for transferring articles or the like to an article receiving area, whereby one or several articles at a time are trans¬ ferred and/or arranged in an arranging area by a handling device, such as a conveyor or the like, onto an at least partly planar arranging table, whereupon the one or several articles are transferred by means of transfer equipment and/or a power unit, in at least one direction to the article receiving area, wherein the arranging table is purged to at least one unloading unit, such as a pallet, an unloading conveyor or the like.

The method according to the invention is particularly applicable for use in connection with palletting and piling equipment for arranging, transferring and unloading of articles on a pallet or a pile.

By applying the methods in use, the handling of articles or the like is commonly performed in a way that boxes, packages, sacks or the like are transferred from the previous stage, such as e.g. a packing machine, by transferring means, such as a conveyor or the like, to the arranging point, where they are e.g. pushed by a separate arranging device, such as a pusher plate, from the conveyor to an arranging bed or mat. The arranging plate is connected to the transferring means, or it passes, guided by rails or slide bars, to the unloading point above the pallet, where the finished articles, which may e.g. be ar¬ ranged, is unloaded from the arranging plate by means of a separate unloading device, such as a stop plate, which retains the articles when the arranging plate is drawn from below.

The use of a method of this kind requires a number of mechanical structural parts and several separate control operations for their control. Articles can thus not be unloaded directly from the conveyor that brings articles to the arranging point; nor can they be unloaded at the unloading point to a pile or onto a pallet without separate arranging devices and unloading equipment. In addition, the movements of the pusher plate and the stop plate used must be adjusted e.g. to the form and size of the articles to be conveyed, and the movements must be arranged to be exactly adjustable. Also, the friction between the articles and the arranging plate must be taken into consideration in the operations at the arranging and unloading points. Consequently, due to the large number of functional parts needed in these kinds of methods, also a large number of electrical components and control operations are required; the number of I/O points increases e.g. with the use of programmable logic, in which case the total cost of the hardware applying the method is high.

It is an aim of the method according to the invention to provide a decisive improvement in the disadvantages presented above and thus to raise the level of prior art in the field. For attaining this aim, the method according to the invention is mainly characterized in that the arranging table of the arranging area is formed of at least two arranging table sections which are movable in relation to each other, whereby upon applying the method, one or more articles at a time are removed from the first arranging table section to the second arranging table section by moving at least one arranging table section preferably essentially in the vertical direction, whereafter the article is transferred on the second arranging table section to the article receiving area.

The most important advantages of the invention are its simplicity and reliability. From the conveyor bringing articles directly to the arranging area, the articles to be conveyed are removed to the second arranging table section, whereupon the articles are removed further to the article receiving area. In an advantageous embodiment, it is also possible to arrange the articles before the stage of transfer on the second arranging table section. In the article receiv- ing area, it is also possible to purge the second arranging table section in an ideal way, so that the articles can be unloaded therefrom effectively without the disturbing effect of friction.

Advantageous embodiments of the method according to the invention are described in the other dependent claims related to the method.

The invention relates also to an apparatus for applying the method. The apparatus is defined in more detail in the ingress part of the independent claim related to the apparatus. The main characteristics of the apparatus are presented in the characterizing part of the respective claim.

By means of the apparatus according to the invention, it is possible in a simple and reliable way to transfer articles or the like from the conveyor to the article receiving area. In the apparatus according to the invention, the number of mechanical structural parts and thus also of electrical control operations is substantially reduced from those presently used. In an advantageous embodiment, it is possible to lift the articles by means of a carriage from the first arranging table section to the second arranging table section formed by the carriage and to transfer them further to the article receiving area by transferring and/or using the carriage. The functioning of the

apparatus is ideal also in the article receiving area, because the goods can be removed from the carriage almost without friction by driving and moving the carriage simultaneously.

Advantageous embodiments of the apparatus according to the invention are presented in the dependent claims related to the apparatus.

In the following description, the invention is il¬ lustrated in detail with reference to the appended drawings in which

Fig. 1 shows as an example an embodiment of the apparatus applying themethod, the carriage being in the arranging area in connection with the handling device.

Fig. 2 shows a corresponding embodiment, the carriage being in the article receiving area.

Fig. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the line A-A of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the line

B-B of Fig. 2.

In the apparatus applying the method according to the invention as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, one or several articles or the like is transferred at a time and arranged in the arranging area 3 by means of a handling device 2, such as a conveyor or the like, onto the planar arranging table 4, whereby the article 1 is further transferred by means of transfer equipment 5 and the power unit 6 in a direction a to the article receiving area 7, in which the arranging table 4 is purged to a pallet 7a functioning as the unloading

unit. In the presented embodiment of the apparatus, the arranging table 4 or the arranging area 3 is formed, according to the invention, of two arranging table sections 4a, 4b movable in relation to each other, whereby the second arranging table section 4b is movable in the vertical direction, for removing article 1 from the first arranging table section 4a to the second arranging table section 4b, whereupon the article 1 is transferred to the article receiving area 7.

In the presented embodiment, the said first arranging table section 4a is formed of the conveyor 2 func¬ tioning as the handling device, and the second arrang- ing table section 4b is, correspondingly, formed of a carriage 8 functioning by means of the transfer equipment 5 and the power unit 6 connected thereto. Consequently, in the apparatus,

- the carriage 8 is arranged, for removing article 1 from the first arranging table section 4a of the conveyor 2, to be lifted to the upper position, above the first arranging table section 4a of the conveyor 2, and

- the carriage 8 is arranged, for transferring article 1 and purging the second arranging table section 4b to the article receiving area 7, to be movable by means of the transfer equipment 5 and the power unit 6 and/or to be driven by the power unit 6.

According to Figs. 1 and 2, the carriage 8 comprises a frame 8a, in which rollers 8b are mounted in bear- ings, which rollers are e.g. at one end connected to the power unit 6 by means of a chain- or belt-driven or corresponding driving arrangement. Consequently, the power unit 6 comprises the first powered means 6a

for driving the carriage 8 by rolling the rollers 8b, and the second powered means for moving the frame 8a of the carriage 8 by means of the transfer equip¬ ment 5.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the carriage 8 is purged at the article receiving area 7 by moving the frame 8a by means of the second powered means in the direction b opposite to the direction a in a certain speed of transfer and simultaneously rolling the rollers 8b by means of the first powered means 6a in a certain speed of rotation. Thus, the article 1 on the second arranging table section 4b formed by the rollers 8b is transferred by the rotational motion almost without friction in relation to the carriage 8 in the direc¬ tion a to the pallet 7a in the article receiving area 7. It is advantageous to arrange the radial velocity of the rollers 8b in the direction a to be slightly higher than the speed of transfer of the frame 8a in the direction b, wherein compaction of the articles 1 is simultaneously achieved in connection with unloading on the pallet 7a.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the speed of the rotational movement generated by the first powered means 6a and the speed of the movement of the frame 8a generated by the second powered means are adjustable in relation to each other by adjusting organs, depend¬ ing on the structure, material etc. of the article 1 to be handled.

In the embodiment presented, the conveyor 2 is formed of shafts 2a which are placed in succession, perpen¬ dicularly to the longitudinal direction c of the conveyor 2, and equipped with discs 2b at certain intervals e. The upper surface of these discs 2b forms the said first arranging table section 4a. The carriage 8 is arranged in a way that the rollers 8b are

situated in the longitudinal direction c of the conveyor 2, in interspaces 3 between the successive discs 2b, in the space between the upper surface of the discs 2b and the upper surfaces of the shafts 2a.

In general, the method according to the invention is applied in principle in a way that the article 1 brought by the conveyor 2 to the planar arranging table 4 is removed from the first arranging table section 4a to the second arranging table section 4b by moving one of the arranging table sections 4a, 4b, whereafter the article 1 is transferred on the second arranging table section 4b to the article receiving area 7.

Figure 3 is intended for illustration of an advanta¬ geous embodiment of the method, wherein the article l removed from the first arranging table section 4a to the second arranging table section 4b is arranged by means of the carriage 8 before being transferred to the article receiving area 7, whereby in the applica¬ tion of the method,

- in the upper position, the carriage 8 is driven by the power unit 6 to arrange the article 1 thereupon, i.e. to transfer it to the other side of the carriage 8, after which

- the carriage 8 is lowered back to the lower position below the first arranging table section 4a of the conveyor 2 for removing the next one or several articles 1 from the conveyor 2, after which the carriage 8 is lifted to its upper position again, wherein

- the article 1 on the carriage 8 is rearranged and/or transferred to the article receiving area 7,

and/or the removing of the next one or several articles 1 from the conveyor 2 is continued.

It is obvious that the invention is not restricted to the embodiments presented above, but it can be modified within the main idea to a large extent. Thus various applications of both the conveyor and the carriage are possible, so that e.g. the section situated in the arranging area of the conveyor may comprise a passive roller surface or the like, whereupon the article is transferred by means of the preceeding conveyors. The removal of the article from the conveyor to the carriage can also be performed simply by lowering down the conveyor in relation to the carriage, e.g. by tilting the end of the conveyor downwards, in which case the conveyor may comprise a solid conveyor, particularly if the article receiving area is formed of several unloading conveyors.