System and method for dynamically processing objects using a cassette tray assembly
阅读说明:本技术 使用盒子托盘组件动态处理物体的系统和方法 (System and method for dynamically processing objects using a cassette tray assembly ) 是由 J·R·小阿门德 W·C-H·麦克马汉 J·罗曼诺 V·欣奇 J·E·金 T·瓦格纳 于 2019-03-04 设计创作,主要内容包括:公开了一种用于在物体处理系统中使用的盒子操纵系统。该盒子操纵系统包括盒子托盘,该盒子托盘包括用于接纳盒子的凹入区域,并且该凹入区域包括用于接纳容纳要处理的物体的盒子的多个底板和边缘部分。(A cassette handling system for use in an object handling system is disclosed. The cassette handling system includes a cassette tray including a recessed area for receiving a cassette, and the recessed area includes a plurality of bottom panels and edge portions for receiving a cassette containing objects to be processed.)
1. A cassette handling system for use in an object handling system, the cassette handling system comprising a cassette tray comprising a recessed area for receiving a cassette, the recessed area comprising a plurality of floors and edge portions for receiving a cassette containing objects to be handled.
2. The cassette handling system of claim 1, wherein the cassette handling system includes an air escape channel for allowing air to escape from between the cassette tray and the cassette when the cassette is engaged with the cassette tray.
3. A cassette handling system according to claim 1, wherein the cassette trays include contact areas that can be contacted to push the cassette trays off of one transport system to another transport system.
4. A cassette handling system according to claim 1 wherein the cassette trays can be transported by a transport system which cannot transport the cassettes individually due to the relatively low mass of the cassettes when empty, but on which the cassette trays and empty cassettes can be transported.
5. The cassette handling system of claim 1, wherein the cassette tray includes a bottom having a patterned embossed surface that helps provide friction between the cassette tray bottom and a transport system.
6. A cassette handling system according to claim 1 wherein the cassette trays include bottom sides having portions sufficiently coextensive so that no portion of the bottom obstructs movement of the cassette trays as they can be pushed away from one conveyor system onto another conveyor system.
7. The cassette handling system of claim 1, wherein the cassette tray includes a recessed area for receiving a unique identification mark.
8. The cassette handling system of claim 1, wherein the cassette tray includes a recessed area that can be used as a handle to lift the cassette tray.
9. The cassette handling system of claim 1, wherein the cassette tray includes corner tabs for facilitating stacking of a plurality of cassette trays when not in use.
10. The cassette handling system of claim 1, wherein the cassette trays include side wall portions that are received by corner tabs of adjacent cassette trays when a plurality of cassette trays are stacked together.
11. A cassette handling system for use in an object handling system, the cassette handling system comprising a cassette tray comprising a recessed area for receiving a cassette, the recessed area comprising a plurality of floors and edge portions for receiving a cassette containing objects to be handled; and, the cassette handling system further comprises an identification mark on at least one of the cassette and the cassette tray, the identification mark uniquely identifying the cassette tray handling system.
12. The cassette handling system of claim 11, further comprising a processing system that associates the identifying indicia with a defined set of objects.
13. The cassette handling system of claim 12, wherein the processing system is responsive to a sensing output from a sensing unit for analyzing the identifying indicia.
14. A cassette handling system according to claim 12 wherein said defined groups of objects are homogeneous.
15. A cassette handling system according to claim 12 wherein said defined set of objects are heterogeneous.
16. The cassette handling system of claim 11, wherein the cassette tray is disposed on a conveyor system.
17. The cassette handling system of claim 11, wherein the cassette handling system includes an adjustable stop to limit movement of at least one cassette tray in a first direction.
18. The box handling system of claim 11, wherein the box handling system comprises a box cover for placing over the box when the box is open such that an exterior flap of the box can be held in an open position, and wherein the box cover comprises an open top portion that allows access to the box through the box cover.
19. A cassette handling system according to claim 11, wherein each cassette tray includes attachment means for attracting adjacent cassette trays toward each other.
20. A cassette handling system for use in an object handling system, the cassette handling system comprising a cassette tray, the cassette tray comprising:
a recessed area for receiving a cassette, the recessed area including a plurality of floors and edge portions for receiving a cassette containing objects to be processed;
the cassette tray includes exterior width and length dimensions that dictate that a plurality of such cassette trays, when adjacently aligned, provide at least one of a total width and a total length of the plurality of such cassette trays such that at least one of the total width or the total length of the plurality of such cassette trays provides a defined position of each of the plurality of such cassette trays within the cassette handling system.
21. The cassette handling system of claim 20, wherein the cassette tray is disposed on a conveyor system.
22. The cassette handling system of claim 20, comprising an adjustable stop to limit movement of at least one cassette tray in a first direction.
23. The cassette handling system of claim 20, wherein each cassette tray includes an identification mark that uniquely identifies the cassette tray.
24. The cassette handling system of claim 20, wherein each cassette includes an identification mark that uniquely identifies the cassette.
25. The cassette handling system of claim 24, further comprising a processing system that associates each identifying indicia with a defined set of objects.
26. A cassette handling system according to claim 25 wherein said defined groups of objects are homogeneous.
27. The cassette handling system of claim 25, wherein the defined set of objects are heterogeneous.
28. The cassette handling system of claim 23, wherein the processing system is responsive to a sensing output from a sensing unit for analyzing the identifying indicia.
29. The box handling system of claim 20, wherein the box handling system comprises a box cover for placing over the box when the box is open such that an exterior flap of the box can be held in an open position, and wherein the box cover comprises an open top portion that allows access to the box through the box cover.
30. A cassette handling system according to claim 20 wherein each cassette tray includes attachment means for attracting adjacent cassette trays toward each other.
31. A cassette handling system according to claim 20, wherein each cassette tray includes a rigid portion that is accessible by the kicker assembly to push the cassette tray and associated cassette tray assembly away from the conveyor.
32. The cassette handling system of claim 31, further comprising a kicker assembly comprising an actuatable pushing device movable along a track.
33. A cassette handling system for use in an object handling system, the cassette handling system comprising a cassette tray assembly, the cassette tray assembly comprising:
a tray for containing a cassette, the tray comprising a recessed area for receiving the cassette, wherein the recessed area comprises a plurality of floors and edge portions for receiving the cassette; and
a box cover for placement over an open box such that the exterior flaps of the box can be retained in an open position, and wherein the box cover includes an open top portion that allows access to the box.
34. A cassette handling system according to claim 33 wherein the cassette trays are disposed on a transport system.
35. The cassette handling system of claim 33, wherein the cassette handling system includes an adjustable stop to limit movement of at least one cassette tray in a first direction.
36. The cassette handling system of claim 33, wherein each cassette tray includes an identification mark that uniquely identifies the cassette tray.
37. The cassette handling system of claim 33, wherein each cassette includes an identification mark that uniquely identifies the cassette.
38. The cassette handling system of claim 36, further comprising a handling system that associates each identifying indicia with a defined set of objects.
39. The cassette handling system of claim 38, wherein the defined group of objects are homogeneous.
40. The cassette handling system of claim 38, wherein the defined set of objects are heterogeneous.
41. The cassette handling system of claim 36, wherein the processing system is responsive to a sensing output from a sensing unit for analyzing the identifying indicia.
42. A cassette handling system according to claim 33 wherein each cassette tray includes alignment means for aligning adjacent cassette trays.
43. A cassette handling system according to claim 33 wherein each cassette tray includes attachment means for attracting adjacent cassette trays toward each other.
44. The cassette handling system of claim 33, wherein the cassette cover includes a recessed area, the identifying indicia being located in the recessed area.
45. The cassette handling system of claim 44, wherein the unique identification indicia of the cassette cover is paired with the unique identification indicia of the cassette tray to provide a secure unique identification of the cassette handling system.
46. The cassette handling system of claim 33, wherein the cassette cover includes side wall portions that are received by corner tabs of adjacent cassette covers when a plurality of cassette covers are stacked together.
47. A box handling system according to claim 33 wherein the box lid is arranged to hold the exterior flaps of boxes of a plurality of sizes in an open position.
48. The box handling system of claim 33, wherein the box cover is configured to hold multiple sizes of exterior flaps of a box in an open position.
49. The cassette handling system of claim 33, wherein the cassette cover is configured such that the cassette can be filled to a level above a height of the cassette.
50. The cassette handling system of claim 33, further comprising a kicker assembly including an actuatable pushing device movable along the track, the actuatable pushing device actuatable to selectively remove the cassette tray assembly from the conveyor.
Background
The present invention relates generally to automated sorting and other processing systems, and in certain embodiments to programmable motion control, e.g., robotic systems for processing (e.g., sorting) objects such as packages, items, goods, and the like.
For example, current distribution center sortation systems typically assume that the sequence of operations is inflexible, whereby a worker first separates a cluttered input object stream into a single isolated object stream, which is presented to the worker one at a time by a scanner that identifies the objects. The objects are then loaded onto one or more conveyors directed to the diverter, which then transport the objects to a desired destination, which may be a box, chute, bag, or destination conveyor.
Such systems have inherent inefficiencies and flexibility as the desired goal is to match incoming objects with the distributed collection bin. Such systems may in part require a large number of collection bins (and thus a large amount of physical space, a large amount of capital cost, and a large amount of operating cost), as it is not always most efficient to uniformly sort all objects.
Disclosure of Invention
According to one embodiment, the present invention provides a cassette handling system for use in an object handling system. The cassette handling system includes a cassette tray including a recessed area for receiving a cassette, and the recessed area includes a plurality of bottom panels and edge portions for receiving a cassette containing objects to be processed.
According to another embodiment, the present invention provides a cassette handling system for use in an object handling system, wherein the cassette handling system comprises a cassette tray comprising a recessed area for receiving a cassette, the recessed area comprising a plurality of floors and edge portions for receiving a cassette containing objects to be handled. The cassette handling system further includes an identification mark on at least one of the cassette and the cassette tray, and the identification mark uniquely identifies the cassette tray handling system.
According to another embodiment, the present invention provides a cassette handling system for use in an object handling system, wherein the cassette handling system comprises a cassette tray comprising a recessed area for receiving cassettes, the recessed area comprising a plurality of floors and edge portions for receiving cassettes containing objects to be handled. The cassette tray includes exterior width and length dimensions that provide that a plurality of such cassette trays, when adjacently aligned, provide at least one of an overall width and an overall length of the plurality of such cassette trays such that at least one of the overall width or the overall length of the plurality of such cassette trays provides a defined position of each of the plurality of such cassette trays within the cassette handling system.
According to yet another embodiment, the present invention provides a cassette handling system for use in an object handling system, wherein the cassette handling system comprises a cassette tray assembly comprising a tray for receiving a cassette and a cassette lid, the tray comprising a recessed area for receiving a cassette, wherein the recessed area comprises a plurality of bottom panels and edge portions for receiving a cassette, the cassette lid for placing over an open cassette such that exterior flaps of the cassette may be held in an open position, and wherein the cassette lid comprises an open top portion allowing access to the cassette.
Drawings
The following description may be further understood with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a schematic isometric view of a cassette handling system for object handling according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows a schematic isometric view of two cassette trays of the cassette handling system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a schematic plan view of a plurality of cassette trays of the cassette handling system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 shows a schematic plan view of the processing of homogeneous objects into heterogeneous objects using the cassette handling system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 shows a schematic plan view of the processing of heterogeneous objects into homogeneous objects using the cassette handling system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 shows a schematic exploded view of the cassette tray assembly, cassette and cassette cover of the cassette handling system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 shows a schematic end view of the cassette tray assembly of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 shows a schematic side view of the cassette tray assembly of FIG. 6;
FIGS. 9A-9C show schematic isometric views of the cassette tray assembly of FIG. 6 (FIG. 9A) and cassette tray assemblies (FIGS. 9B and 9C) according to further embodiments of the present invention;
FIGS. 10A and 10B show schematic isometric views of a box tray assembly relating to boxes having various flap arrangements according to further embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 11 shows an illustrative schematic view of the cassette and cassette tray of FIG. 6 showing air venting when the cassette is positioned in the cassette tray;
FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic isometric view of a cassette tray of the cassette tray of FIG. 6 showing indicia disposed in the recessed area in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 13 shows a schematic end view of the cassette tray of FIG. 12;
FIG. 14 shows a schematic side view of the cassette tray of FIG. 12;
FIG. 15 shows a schematic top view of the cassette tray of FIG. 12;
FIG. 16 shows a schematic bottom view of the cassette tray of FIG. 12;
FIG. 17 shows a schematic isometric view of a plurality of stacked cassette trays;
FIG. 18 illustrates a schematic isometric view of a cassette lid of the cassette tray of FIG. 6 showing indicia disposed in the recessed area in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 19 shows a schematic end view of the cassette cover of FIG. 18;
FIG. 20 shows a schematic side view of the cassette lid of FIG. 18;
FIG. 21 shows a schematic top view of the cassette lid of FIG. 18;
FIG. 22 shows a schematic bottom view of the cassette cover of FIG. 18;
FIG. 23 shows a schematic isometric view of a plurality of stacked cassette lids;
FIGS. 24A-24D show schematic views of a box tray assembly transitioning from one conveyor to another according to embodiments of the present invention.
Figures 25A and 25B show schematic isometric views of a cassette handling system including a cassette kicker assembly according to embodiments of the present invention;
26A-26D show schematic isometric views of a cassette handling system including a cassette kicker assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention;
27A and 27B show schematic top views of cassette trays in a cassette handling system including an attraction system for attracting adjacent cassette trays toward each other in a side-to-side manner in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and
fig. 28A and 28B show schematic top views of cassette trays in a cassette handling system including an attraction system for attracting adjacent cassette trays toward each other in an end-to-end manner according to another embodiment of the present invention.
The drawings are shown for illustrative purposes only.
Detailed Description
According to various embodiments, the present invention provides a cassette handling system for use in an object handling system. The cassette handling system includes a cassette tray including a recessed area for receiving a cassette. The recessed area includes a plurality of floors and edge portions for receiving a cassette containing objects to be processed. According to another embodiment, a cassette handling system includes a cassette tray including a recessed area for receiving a cassette, and the recessed area includes a plurality of floors and edge portions for receiving a cassette containing objects to be processed. The cassette handling system further includes an identification mark on at least one of the cassette tray and the cassette, and the identification mark uniquely identifies the cassette tray. According to another embodiment, the cassette tray further comprises exterior width and length dimensions that specify that a plurality of such cassette trays, when adjacently aligned, provide at least one of a total width and a total length of the plurality of such cassette trays, such that at least one of the total width or the total length of the plurality of such cassette trays provides a defined location and place for each of the plurality of such cassette trays within the cassette handling system. According to a further embodiment, the box tray further comprises a box cover for placing over an open box such that the exterior flaps of the box can be held in an open position, and wherein the box cover comprises an open top portion allowing access to the box.
FIG. 1 illustrates a cassette handling system 10 for use in object handling according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system 10 includes a programmable motion device 12, such as a robotic system having an end effector 14 (e.g., a vacuum gripper or gripper actuator) positioned between two conveyors 16, 18 on which
In response to such cassette dispensing by sensing data,
With further reference to FIG. 2, each
This provides significant consistency to the system 10, greatly facilitating automated processing of objects. The stops 17 may be actuated for a limited time to process the objects thus received in the vicinity of the programmable motion device 12 and then released to allow the
For example, FIG. 4 illustrates the processing of objects from a cassette tray assembly 20' in which the contents of each cassette are homogeneous to a
Fig. 6 shows an exploded view of the
Fig. 9A shows an isometric view of the
Fig. 11 shows the
Fig. 12-16 show additional views of the
FIG. 17 shows a plurality of
Fig. 18-22 show additional views of the
Fig. 21 shows a top view of the
FIG. 24A illustrates a portion of a system according to another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the
Fig. 25A and 25B show rear views of the system of fig. 24A-24D. In particular, fig. 25A shows that the cassette kicker assembly 74 can travel along a track 76 behind the
Referring to fig. 26A-26D, a cassette kicker 84 according to another embodiment of the present invention may be suspended by and travel along a track 86 and may include a rotatable arm 88 and a roller 90 at the end of the arm. Referring to FIGS. 26B-26D, as rollers 90
In each of the above systems, a controller 30 (e.g., one or more computer processors) (wireless or wired) may be employed to monitor the location of each cassette tray assembly on the conveyor and to control the processing of the objects by the programmable motion device and to maintain status information regarding the processing stage of each cassette in the cassette tray assembly.
Fig. 27A and 27B show a
As shown in fig. 28A and 28B, according to another embodiment of the present invention, a
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications and variations may be made to the above disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
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