OVERHEAD DEVICE FOR HANDLING BOXES Technical Field

The present invention relates to an overhead device for handling boxes, i.e., to an electromechanical apparatus which can move on a track which is raised above the floor, suspended from a cable or other movable supporting element, in order to grip, transfer, pour, release full or empty containers of goods, generally lacking a lid, such as for example, but not exclusively, plastic boxes which contain metallic findings and other tidy or loose goods; in particular, to assemble the boxes in a tight arrangement, as on a pallet; the overhead device being actuatable so as to travel along the overhead transfer under the guidance of an operator on foot, a robot or another convenient means. Background Art

The background art comprises complex devices which are generally suitable to handle boxes by gripping them on the outside, but this however does not allow to obtain stacks or compact arrangements of boxes in general, i.e., mutually packed arrangements which are without voids and are stable: this occurs because the external grip means occupy space outside the most protruding outer rim of the box. There are also internally gripping devices, but they interfere with the goods contained in the box or in any case take away space internally.

In the background art, the need is felt to use a device which, in addition to obtaining, when necessary, compact arrangements of boxes, also avoiding contact with the goods and without wasting space internally, has a low cost and is such that it can be used even by an operator who moves along the floor or ground without having to bend and then strain to carry the box to be moved by loading it on his shoulders; the weight of such a box, in the case of metallic findings, may oscillate between 8 and 13 kg, consequently requiring efforts and causing considerable fatigue during the working day.

The need arises, from what has been described above, to solve the problem of finding an overhead device which allows to handle boxes for example, but non-limitatively, by arranging them compactly and precisely, in arrangements which may even include stacking, in particular with semiautomatic guidance in handling by means of the operator who follows it, or automatic guidance by means of robots or another means. Disclosure of the Invention

The present invention solves this problem by adopting an overhead device for moving boxes which is equipped with box gripping elements, each gripping element being inserted from above in a recess provided in the upper rim in each corner of said box and provided with a vertical internal side wall which has a lower rim for coupling thereto a grip part of said box to hang it from said overhead device without said grip part protruding neither outside nor inside said box. The advantages achieved by this invention are: grip and handling of the box without external or internal space occupation or contact of the grip elements with the goods contained in said box; the possibility to arrange the boxes even in compact arrangements with one or more layers; minimal space occupation on the pallets; maximum box positioning precision; the possibility to guide in the path of the box by an operator on the ground, drastically alleviating the operator's fatigue; the possibility of automation, even complete; a device which is simple and accordingly has low manufacturing and operating costs. Brief Description of the Drawings An embodiment of the invention, related for example to a box having a rectangular plan shape, is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the box, made for example of plastic material, to be handled by means of an overhead device according to the invention; Figure 2 is a side view, taken along the longer side, of the box of

Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side view, taken along the shorter side;

Figure 4 is a partial plan view of the box;

Figure 5 is a partial horizontal sectional view, taken along the line V- V of Figure 2, at mid-height in order to illustrate the sleeves for optional external grip of the box;

Figure 6 is a partial horizontal sectional view, taken along the line VI- VI of Figure 2, just below the upper rim;

Figure 7 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view, taken along the line VII-VII of Figure 4;

Figure 8 is a transverse vertical sectional view, taken along the line VIII-VIII of Figure 4, along an upper rim in order to better show the corner recesses;

Figure 9 is a partial and partially sectional side view of the overhead device, taken from its longer side, with a centering mask rested on the upper rim of the box and the grip elements still raised, in the open position;

Figure 10 is a side view of the device, taken from the shorter side of the box;

Figure 1 1 is a plan view of the centering mask; Figure 12 is a side view of the centering mask of Figure 1 1, taken from its longer side;

Figure 13a is a bottom view of the centering mask;

Figure 13b is a partially sectional detail view of the inclined-plane coupling of the centering mask in a corner of the box; Figure 14 is an elevation view of the centering mask, taken from the shorter side;

Figure 15 is a partial plan view of the overhead device without the protective housing and showing in phantom lines the four grip elements;

Figure 16 is a partial and partially sectional elevation view of the overhead grip device, taken from the shorter side of the box, to highlight the

situation in which the box is gripped and hanging, with the corresponding grip elements inserted fully in the corner recesses;

Figure 17 is an elevation view of the overhead device, for example guided by an operator, in the maneuver for the approach from above of its grip elements toward the corners of a box which is inserted in a packed arrangement of boxes on a pallet. Ways of carrying out the Invention

A box 1, designed for example to contain articles in general, findings, including metal ones, loose materials or also incoherent materials, in one of its possible configurations of a substantially known type has, on its long side, a pair of walls 2, which are for example reinforced in an upper region by ribs 3, in a lower region by a rib 4, and on the short side by a pair of walls 5a with a pair of external flaps 5 for traditional manual grip: peripherally, between the two pairs of walls 2, 5a, four protruding corner bodies are interposed and are provided with vertical ribs 6 between which, again for example, pairs of horizontal sleeves 7 protrude which are suitable for the insertion therein of optional external grip elements. The upper rim 8 of the box, followed inward by two pairs of vertical centering walls 8a, is interrupted and open centrally and toward the inside in each of its corners so as to constitute a bottomless vertical recess 9 which is provided with an inner side wall 10. The bottom 1 1 of the box, delimited laterally by the pairs of walls 5, 5a, is narrower than its upper inlet due to stacking requirements: in this regard, the lower part of each of said four protruding corner bodies is provided with an indent 12, in order to move inward the insertion in the underlying box, reducing the protrusion of said corner bodies only to the portion 12a in order to enter with sufficient precision between the vertical centering walls 8a and rest with said portion on the two pairs of internal indents 13 (in which the pair of such indents related to the longer pair of sides is provided with a narrower supporting surface) which limit the depth of the vertical centering walls 8a.

As regards the recesses 9, their inner side wall 10 ends in a lower region with a rim 14 which is used, according to the invention, for grip from the inside and from below by the corresponding grip element.

A centering flange 15 is interposed between the overhead device DA and the upper rim 8 of the box 1 , slides vertically in contrast with elastic means, and is part of a centering mask 16, which is beveled at its four corners in order to keep free the regions involved in the vertical motion of the grip elements, and is provided with two short sides and two long sides: the centering flange 15, in its lower face, is provided with protrusions 17 which are parallel to the vertical centering walls 8a of the box 1 and can be mated therewith. Each of said protrusions is provided toward the outside with an inclined plane 18 which slopes inward and is designed to enter from above the box 1 and center itself, mating advantageously with precision, in the corresponding vertical centering wall 8a. The centering flange 15 is further provided, on the opposite face, with two pairs of vertical guiding columns 19, which are arranged toward the ends of the two short sides of the flange which pass through the platform 20 which constitutes the supporting structure of the overhead device DA and are guided through corresponding openings of the platform and are prevented from disengaging from it by means of extraction-preventing means. The lower face of the platform has, along its longer sides, two pairs of supports 21 so that each rotationally supports a longitudinal shaft 22, toward each of the ends of which a grip element for the box 1 is fixed. The grip element is advantageously shaped like an angular lever which has a vertical grip arm 23, which is directed downward and is provided with an advantageously horizontal lower end tooth 24 which is adapted to enter a corresponding recess 9 of the box 1 and to come into contact with the lower rim 14 of the inner side wall 10 of the recess in each corner of the box 1, in order to support it by suspension, by means of the two shafts 22 and the supports 21, from the platform 20. The overhead device DA, suspended from an

overhead track or rail, made to descend so that its (lower) centering mask 16 is arranged within the vertical centering walls 8a of the box 1 , reaches the grip position (Figure 16) due to its own weight, in contrast with the action of elastic means. In order to make the advantageously horizontal tooth 24 of each grip element come into contact with the lower rim 14 of the inner side wall 10 of the recess 9, each longitudinal shaft 22 is moved so as to perform an angular motion, in mutually opposite directions, for example by means of a horizontal actuator 27 for transverse pushing, which acts with a linear movement in opposite directions on the ends of the upper radial arms 28, which are fixed correspondingly along the shaft 22. The horizontal actuator acting on the radial arms by means of devices 29 for adjusting the breadth of the angular movement. It should be noted that four guiding columns 19 pass through the platform 20 in openings which for example are provided with bushes 26, which are prevented from disengaging by way of terminal extraction-prevention means of the guiding columns, and that the centering flange 15 is pushed against the upper rim 8 of the box by way of elastic means 25 which are interposed between the platform 20 and the centering flange: this is due to the weight of the overhead device DA, which is indeed discharged, by way of said elastic means and the centering mask 16, onto the rim 8 of the box 1 when it is released.

The overhead device DA is protected by a housing 30, which is fixed to a longitudinal support 31 , which is supported by columns 32 on the platform 20 and hangs, by means of a retractable and releasable cable 34 which is fixed in the central opening 35 of the platform 20, from a carriage 36 which is actuated so as to slide along an overhead rail or track 37.

In order to deposit the box 1, it is sufficient to lift, by means of the cable 34, the overhead device DA, achieving the disengagement of the inclined planes 18 of the centering flange 15 from the vertical centering walls 8a of the box 1 , actuating the angular movement of each shaft 22 in the opposite direction to the one used to grip the box: this occurs by means

of an actuator 27, thus disengaging the teeth 24 from the lower rim 14 of the box.

As regards the electrical and electronic circuits and the control and actuation elements in general for semiautomatic or even automatic maneuvers, they can be accommodated within the cavities 33 provided in the platform 20.

In the practical embodiment, the materials, the dimensions, the constructive details, the shapes of the details of the box 1, which has a rectangular or if necessary even a square plan shape, with obvious adaptations, and the individual elements of the overhead device DA may be different from the ones described, but technically equivalent thereto, without thereby abandoning the juridical domain of the present invention.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. MO2006A000255 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.