CALS, Hubertus, Y. (Daalstraat 26, BV Maastricht, NL-6223, NL)
VAN DER KAAP, Jordy (Sillebeekstraat 20, EK Valkenburg aan de Geul, NL-6301, NL)
VAN DORP, Pim (Avondsterstraat 4, VL Sittard, NL-6133, NL)
CALS, Hubertus, Y. (Daalstraat 26, BV Maastricht, NL-6223, NL)
VAN DER KAAP, Jordy (Sillebeekstraat 20, EK Valkenburg aan de Geul, NL-6301, NL)
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A packaging system comprising a dunnage dispensing chute having an outlet aligned with a packaging station, the dispensing chute including a trap door that opens under the weight of the dunnage to drop the dunnage into a container at the packaging station in a desired orientation.
2. A system as set forth in claim 1 or any other claim, wherein the trap door includes at least one plate biased to a closed position blocking passage through the chute and pivotally movable to an open position to drop the dunnage into a container.
3. A system as set forth in claim 2 or any other claim, wherein the at least one plate pivots about a generally horizontal axis.
4. A system as set forth in claim 2 or any other claim, wherein the at least one plate includes a pair of pivotally movable plates that are biased toward each other, wherein in the closed position distal portions of the plates are relatively near each other and in moving to the open position the distal portions move away from each other.
5. A system as set forth in claim 4 or any other claim, wherein in the closed position the plates extend generally from spaced-apart pivot axes toward a line of contact between the pivot axes.
6. A system as set forth in claim 5 or any other claim, wherein the line of contact is below the pivot axes
7. A system as set forth in claim 5 or any other claim, wherein the line of contact is centered between the pivot axes. 8 A system as set forth in claim 1 or any other claim, wherein the chute includes a pair of substantially vertical walls on opposing sides of the trap door.
9. A system as set forth in claim 1 or any other claim, wherein the trap door is circumferentially-bounded by one or more substantially vertical walls.
10. A system as set forth in claim 1 or any other claim, comprising a dunnage dispenser having an outlet connected to the chute.
11. A system as set forth in claim 10 or any other claim, wherein the dunnage dispenser includes a dunnage converter that converts a stock material into a dunnage product.
12. A system as set forth in claim 10 or any other claim, wherein the dunnage dispenser dispenses dunnage to the chute in a lengthwise direction.
13. A packaging method comprising the steps of (A) providing dunnage to a dispensing chute positioned above a packaging station; and (B) using the weight of the dunnage to rotate one or more plates from a closed position closing the chute to an open position opening the chute to drop the dunnage into a container at the packaging station.
14. A packaging system comprising a dispensing chute having an open top end to receive dunnage from a supply, a bottom end openable under the weight of the dunnage to deliver the dunnage to a packaging station below the bottom end of the chute, and means for orienting at least one axis of the dunnage in a substantially horizontal orientation before the dunnage drops out of the bottom end of the chute. |
WEIGHT-ACTIVATED DUNNAGE DELIVERY SYSTEM AND METHOD
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/940,919, filed May 30, 2007.
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a packaging system and method, and more particularly, to a packaging system and method that includes a supply of dunnage and means for delivering the dunnage to a container.
Background
Dunnage products are used to package one or more objects in a box or other container for shipment. The dunnage cushions, supports and/or protects the object in the box during shipment. Typically, a conveyor delivers a box to a packing station. There a packer retrieves dunnage products from a supply of dunnage. The supply of dunnage may include a dunnage conversion machine that converts a stock material into dunnage products as needed. The packer orients the dunnage products relative to the box or the objects in the box as necessary and places the dunnage products in the box.
Alternatively, the supply of dunnage might automatically drop dunnage products directly into the box, or a robot and its associated control system may be used to pick up a dunnage product and place it in a box in a desired orientation. Another alternative uses a powered plunger or a powered gate to pass dunnage to a box.
Summary
Dropping a dunnage product into a box or other container often leads to random orientation of the dunnage products in the box, on end or on one side or one end sticking out of the box, for example. Employing a packer can be expensive and inefficient due to the repetitive nature of the process, particularly when the same length of pad is placed in a box in the same orientation every time. While a robot can do the job without concern for the repetitive nature of the task, a
robot can be expensive to set up, program, and maintain, particularly in a low volume situation where relatively small amounts of dunnage are dispensed.
The present invention provides a packaging system that includes a dispensing chute that guides dunnage products from a supply into a box in a desired orientation, without either a packer or a complex robot and its associated control systems. The dispensing chute includes a trap door that orients the dunnage product so that at least one axis is substantially horizontal. The chute also functions as a valve for controllably releasing the dunnage to fall into a box at a packaging station below the chute. More particularly, the present invention provides a packaging system including a dunnage dispensing chute having an outlet aligned with a packaging station. The dispensing chute includes a trap door that opens under the weight of the dunnage to drop the dunnage into a container at the packaging station in a desired orientation. The present invention also provides a packaging method that includes the steps of (i) providing dunnage to a dispensing chute positioned above a packaging station, and (ii) using the weight of the dunnage to rotate one or more plates from a closed position closing the chute to an open position opening the chute to drop the dunnage into a container at the packaging station. The present invention further provides a packaging system that includes a dispensing chute having an open top end to receive dunnage from a supply, a bottom end openable to deliver dunnage to a packaging station below the bottom end of the chute, and means for orienting at least one axis of the dunnage in a substantially horizontal orientation before the dunnage drops out of the bottom end of the chute.
The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail one or more illustrative embodiments of the invention. These embodiments, however, are but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention can be employed. Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.
Brief Description of the Drawings
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary packaging system provided by the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the system shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a top view of the system shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a delivery chute portion of the system shown in FIG. 1 with portions shown in phantom to reveal internal features.
Detailed Description
The present invention provides a packaging system that includes a dispensing chute that guides dunnage from a supply into a box in a desired orientation, without either a packer or a complex robot and its associated control systems. The dispensing chute includes a trap door that both orients the dunnage so that at least one axis is substantially horizontal and functions as a valve for controllably releasing the dunnage to fall into the box at a packaging station below the chute.
Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIGS. 1-3 show an exemplary packaging system 10 provided in accordance with the present invention. The illustrated packaging system 10 includes a supply of dunnage 12, a dispensing chute 14 supported by a stand 16 below an outlet 20 of the supply of dunnage 12, and a packaging station 22 below the dispensing chute 14 for receiving dunnage products dispensed from the chute 14. A box 24 or other container can be positioned at the packaging station 22 to receive dunnage products from the chute 14. The illustrated packaging station 22 is defined by a conveyor 26, which includes guide rails 30 that guide a box 24 to the packaging station 22.
In the illustrated embodiment, the supply of dunnage 12 includes a supply of sheet stock material 31 and a dunnage conversion machine or converter 32 for converting the stock material into a strip of dunnage. The dunnage converter cuts discrete lengths from the strip to form dunnage products or pads of the desired length. The pads thus have a longitudinal axis along the length dimension. The pads exit an outlet of the converter in a lengthwise direction and are fed into an open top of the dispensing chute 14. In the illustrated embodiment, the outlet 20
of the converter 32 is positioned relative to the dispensing chute 14 so that pads exiting the converter 32 fall into the open top 36 (FIG. 4) of the chute 14.
As the pad falls into the dispensing chute 14, the perimeter wall or walls 40 of the dispensing chute 14 capture the dunnage pad within the boundary defined by the walls. The pad is confined within the chute so that no part of the pad extends outside its circumferential confines. The walls 40 of the dispensing chute 14 also define a generally vertical guideway aligned with the packaging station 22. The walls 40 restrict movement of the pad to a path within the chute 14 from the open top 36 and out the bottom 42 (FIG. 4) toward the packaging station 22. The dispensing chute 14 also acts as an alignment device. As shown in
FIG. 4, the dispensing chute 14 further includes one or more rotatable valve plates 44 or trap doors that regulate the passage of dunnage pads falling through the dunnage chute 14. The valve plates 44 are rotatable about generally horizontal axes defined in the illustrated embodiment by pivot shafts 46 that support the valve plates 44 in the chute 14. The valve plates 44 are biased to a closed position, shown in FIG. 4, where the valve plates 44 are inclined relative to the walls 40 of the chute and distal portions of the plates come together to substantially close the passage through the chute 14. The valve plates 44 are rotatable from the closed position to an open position where the valve plates 44 are more closely aligned with or approaching parallel to the walls 40 of the dispensing chute, with the distal portions moving away from each other to provide an opening for passage of the dunnage pad out of the chute 14.
As the dunnage pad falls into the chute 14 and engages the sloped surface of the valve plate or plates 44, if the longitudinal axis of the pad is canted or tilted relative to horizontal, the pad will rotate about the initial contact point until its longitudinal axis is substantially horizontal. As the weight of the pad is supported by one or both the plates 44, the plate or plates will rotate from the closed position to the open position. When the valve plate or plates rotate to the open position, the pad will drop from the dispensing chute 14 into a box 24 in the packaging station 22 therebelow in a controlled manner, and in a desired orientation. In other words, as the valve plate or plates support the full weight of the pad, the valve plate or plates rotate to the open position and allow the pad to pass in an orderly and controlled manner.
The dispensing chute 14 is passive and requires no power for its operation. Moreover, when a dunnage pad is dropped directly from a dunnage converter 32 into a box, the orientation of the pad is random. The dispensing chute 14 minimizes or eliminates random pad orientation in a box by dropping the pads from a substantially horizontal orientation, and thereby generally keeping the pads from coming to rest in the box on end.
As the pad enters the dispensing chute 14, the valve plate or plates 44 may progressively open as the pad comes into contact with the plate or plate. Friction between the pad and the plate or plates retards the progress of the leading end of the pad until the plate or plates open sufficiently to pass the pad through the open bottom end of the chute. Meanwhile, as the trailing end comes into contact with the dispensing chute or the valve plates, and the pad slides down the sloped surface of the valve plates, the longitudinal axis or a transverse axis of the dunnage pad becomes oriented substantially horizontal. At least one axis of the pad is substantially horizontal before dropping into the box. The peripheral walls of the guiding chute generally align the pad with an open top of a box in the packaging station so that the pad drops into the box with the longitudinal axis of the pad substantially horizontal.
The illustrated dunnage conversion machine 32, like most dunnage conversion machines, generally operates in a straight line. The stock material is fed from a supply along an infeed axis into the converter and is output along an outfeed axis that is parallel to or a continuation of the infeed axis. The stock material in the supply 31 in this embodiment is in the form of a stack of fan-folded sheet stock material, which may be made of paper or plastic. The stock material is payed out from the supply in a pay-out direction generally perpendicular to the direction of the conveyor 26. The illustrated conversion machine 32 is mounted astride the conveyor 26 so that the outfeed direction from the conversion machine is aligned with the direction of motion on the conveyor. The converter employs a turner bar assembly 50 to turn the stock material from the pay-out direction to an infeed direction that is parallel to the conveyor.
The illustrated dunnage conversion machine includes a conversion assembly configured to receive a sheet stock material on the infeed axis and output a strip of dunnage on the outfeed axis. The conversion assembly includes
a member that inwardly crumples the sheet stock material. In a typical dunnage conversion machine, the conversion assembly includes at least two rotating members that draw the sheet stock material into the conversion assembly. The conversion assembly also includes a cutting assembly for cutting a discrete strip of dunnage, or a dunnage product, of a desired length from a continuous strip of dunnage formed from a continuous supply of sheet stock material. An exemplary dunnage conversion machine is disclosed in further detail in International Publication No. WO 2006/023900, published in English, which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety. Other dunnage products having a length dimension could be used in place of the dunnage products produced by such a conversion machine.
In summary, the present invention provides a packaging system that includes a dispensing chute that guides dunnage from a supply into a box in a desired orientation, without either a packer or a complex robot and its associated control systems. The dispensing chute includes a trap door that both orients the dunnage so that at least one axis is substantially horizontal, and functions as a valve for controllably releasing the dunnage to fall into a box at a packaging station below the chute.
More particularly, the present invention provides a packaging system including a dunnage dispensing chute having an outlet aligned with a packaging station. The dispensing chute includes a trap door that opens to drop the dunnage into a container at the packaging station from a desired orientation so that the dunnage comes to rest in the container in a more consistent orientation. The present invention also provides a packaging method that includes the steps of (i) providing dunnage to a dispensing chute positioned above a packaging station, and (ii) rotating one or more plates from a closed position closing the chute to an open position opening the chute to drop the dunnage into a container at the packaging station.
The present invention further provides a packaging system that includes a dispensing chute having an open top end to receive dunnage from a supply, a bottom end openable to deliver dunnage to a packaging station below the bottom end of the chute, and means for orienting at least one axis of the dunnage in a
substantially horizontal orientation before the dunnage drops out of the bottom end of the chute.
Put another way, the present invention provides a packaging system that includes a dispensing chute that guides dunnage from a supply into a box in a desired orientation automatically, without a power connection or operator intervention. The dunnage dispensing chute includes a trap door that opens to drop the dunnage into a container at a packaging station in a desired orientation. The dispensing chute has an open top end to receive dunnage from a supply, a bottom end openable to deliver dunnage to a packaging station below the bottom end of the chute, and means for orienting at least one axis of the dunnage in a substantially horizontal orientation before the dunnage drops out of the bottom end of the chute. The means for orienting includes one or more valve plates that define the trap door. The valve plates provide surfaces that are inclined from respective pivots to distal portions that come together, and the plates rotate toward an open position under the weight of the dunnage.
Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to an exemplary embodiment, equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components, the terms (including a reference to a
"means") used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs the specified function of the described component (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure, that performs the function in the illustrated exemplary embodiment provided by the invention.