CN112298679A

CN112298679A - Automatic packaging equipment and automatic packaging method

Info

Publication number: CN112298679A
Application number: CN201910710897.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 胡云杰; 谷诗河; 朱应军
Original assignee: Shure Electronics Suzhou Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shure Electronics Suzhou Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-02
Filing date: 2019-08-02
Publication date: 2021-02-02

Abstract

The present invention provides an automatic packaging apparatus, comprising: a first manipulator having an end effector; a packaging station, comprising: the portal frame is provided with a frame body and a top sucker arranged on the upper part of the frame body; a bag-opening mechanism having a bottom suction cup, first and second arms, first and second drivers, and a track, wherein the first driver drives the first and second arms toward or away from each other through a linkage mechanism, and wherein the first and second arms, the first driver, and the linkage mechanism are disposed on the track and driven by the second driver to move on the track. The invention also provides an automatic packaging method using the equipment. The invention can simplify the packaging process, improve the packaging efficiency, and judge and automatically classify whether the final packaging piece belongs to a good product.

Description

Automatic packaging equipment and automatic packaging method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an automatic packaging apparatus and an automatic packaging method.

Background

Electronic products, such as cell phones, MP3, tablets, headphones, etc., contain instructions and many other parts that need to be placed in a package and packaged. The current packaging equipment generally uses a manipulator to pick up a packaging bag, related parts and the like to be conveyed to different stations, and the packaging method comprises labeling, bagging, packaging and the like at different stations except for a process of picking up the parts by the manipulator. The prior art apparatus and methods still need to be improved in terms of accuracy, packaging efficiency, etc.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, the present invention provides an automatic packaging apparatus, comprising: a first manipulator having an end effector; a packaging station, comprising: the portal frame is provided with a frame body and a top sucker arranged on the upper part of the frame body; a bag-opening mechanism having a bottom suction cup, first and second arms, first and second drivers, and a track, wherein the first driver drives the first and second arms toward or away from each other through a linkage mechanism, and wherein the first and second arms, the first driver, and the linkage mechanism are disposed on the track and driven by the second driver to move on the track.

Further, the automated packaging apparatus of the present invention further comprises a second robot having an end effector, wherein the end effector of the first robot is adapted to pick up at least the first part and the end effector of the second robot is adapted to pick up at least the second part.

Further, the automatic packaging apparatus of the present invention further comprises a specification station from which the second robot can pick up the specification as the second accessory.

Further, the automatic packaging apparatus of the present invention further includes a part transfer device from which the first robot can receive at least one part as the first component.

Further, the gantry further includes a top driver installed at an upper portion of the frame body, the top driver being capable of driving the top suction cup to move up and down with respect to the frame body.

Further, the gantry further includes an upper heat seal plate disposed on an upper portion of the frame, the upper heat seal plate being driven by the top drive to move up and down with respect to the frame.

Further, the gantry further includes a frame driver and a rail, and the frame is mounted on the rail and driven by the frame driver to move on the rail.

Further, the bag opening mechanism further comprises a bottom plate and a rotary driver for driving the bottom plate to rotate between a rotating position and a horizontal position, wherein the bottom suction cup, the first arm, the second arm, the first driver, the second driver, the track and the linkage mechanism are arranged on the bottom plate and can rotate along with the bottom plate.

Further, the bag opening mechanism also comprises a lower heat sealing plate arranged on the bottom plate.

Further, the automatic packaging apparatus of the present invention further comprises a weighing station comprising: a weighing device, a swinging device driver for driving the swinging device.

The invention also provides an automatic packaging method, which comprises the following steps: using the automatic packaging apparatus as described above, the following steps are performed: step 1, a first manipulator picks up a packaging bag; step 2, conveying the packaging bag to a packaging station by a first manipulator, wherein at the packaging station, a bottom sucker of a bag opening mechanism adsorbs the lower surface of the packaging bag, and a top sucker of a portal frame adsorbs the upper surface of the packaging bag so as to open the opening of the packaging bag in the vertical direction; step 3, driving the first arm and the second arm by the second driver towards the packaging bag opening and extending into the packaging bag opening, and then driving the first arm and the second arm by the first driver to move away from each other so as to open the packaging bag opening along the transverse direction; and 4, picking up at least one part by the first mechanical arm, and conveying the at least one part into a packaging bag at the packaging bag station.

Further, the bag opening mechanism further comprises a base plate and a rotary drive for driving the base plate to rotate between a rotational position and a horizontal position, wherein the bottom suction cup, the first and second arms, the first and second drives, the track and the linkage mechanism are disposed on the base plate and are rotatable with the base plate, and the method further comprises: after the packaging bag opening is transversely opened in the step 3, the bottom plate is rotated to a rotating position from a horizontal position through a rotating driver, so that the packaging bag opening is inclined upwards; and rotating the base plate to a horizontal position by the rotary driver after the at least one part is transferred into the bag at the bag station in step 4.

Further, the automatic packaging apparatus further includes a second robot having an end effector, and the step 3 further includes: the instruction sheet is picked up by the second manipulator and put into the packaging bag through the opened packaging bag opening.

Further, the gantry further comprises a top driver installed on the upper portion of the frame body, wherein the step 2 further comprises: the top suction cup is driven by the top drive to move toward the package and to suck the upper surface of the package.

Further, the method of the present invention further comprises a step 5, after the step 4: after all the parts have been placed in the package, the package is sealed to form the final package.

Further, the portal frame further comprises an upper heat sealing plate arranged on the upper portion of the frame body, the upper heat sealing plate is driven by a top driver, the bag supporting mechanism further comprises a lower heat sealing plate arranged on the bottom plate, and in the step 5: the first and second arms are withdrawn from the package, the bottom suction cup maintains suction against the lower surface of the package, the package is moved onto the lower heat seal panel under the drive of the second drive, the upper heat seal panel is driven by the top drive to move toward the lower heat seal panel to grip the upper and lower edges of the package mouth with the upper and lower heat seal panels, and heat is then applied to the entire mouth to heat seal the package to form the finished package.

Further, the automatic packaging equipment still includes the weighing station, and this weighing station includes: the device comprises a weighing device, a swinging device and a swinging device driver for driving the swinging device to move; after forming the final package in step 4 or in step 5, the method further comprises a weighing step: the final packages are weighed by the weighing device and driven by the swing device driver according to the weighing result to push the final packages in different directions by the swing device for sorting.

The automatic packaging equipment and the automatic packaging method can realize the parallel operation of the parts and improve the packaging efficiency. The opening of the packaging bag opening, the rotation and the packaging of the packaging bag can be realized by the packaging station, the packaging flow can be simplified, and the smooth bag entering of parts can be ensured. Furthermore, whether the final packaging piece belongs to a good product or not can be judged and automatically classified.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an automated packaging apparatus according to the present invention;

figure 2 is a schematic view of a first robot according to the invention;

figure 3 is a schematic view of a second robot according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a gantry according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a bag opening mechanism according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a weighing station according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

The foregoing and other technical matters, features and effects of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. Directional terms as referred to in the following examples, for example: up, down, left, right, front, rear, inside, outside, etc., are directions only with reference to the drawings and the general attitude and operation direction of the apparatus. Therefore, the directional terms used are intended to be illustrative and not restrictive, and the same reference numerals are used to designate the same elements throughout the embodiments.

The automatic packaging equipment of the invention

According to preferred embodiments of the present invention, there is provided an automatic packaging apparatus and an automatic packaging method, for example, adapted to place a plurality of accessories (including various parts and instructions, etc.) in a package bag and complete packaging.

In a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, as shown in fig. 1, the automatic packaging apparatus of the present invention is used to implement the preferred packaging method of the present invention, and may include: the automatic labeling machine comprises a mechanical arm 1, a mechanical arm 2, an automatic labeling machine 3, a packaging station 4, a specification intermediate station 5, a part conveying device 6, a packaging bag station 7, a specification station 8, a rack 9 and the like. The above-described components of the automatic packaging apparatus may be omitted as needed depending on the parts to be packaged and the process, for example, the automatic labeling machine 3 may be omitted when labeling is not required, and the description intermediate station 5 and the description station 8 may be omitted when a description is not required to be packaged. The parts conveyor 6 and the bag station 7 may be part of the automatic packaging equipment or may be another structure or device independent of the automatic packaging equipment, such as a conveyor belt for conveying parts/bags, other manipulators or feed trays, and the like. In addition, the automatic packaging apparatus includes various controllers and sensors, such as a central processing unit, a PCL, a single chip microcomputer, and/or a computer for controlling the operations of all the components and stations, sensors for sensing the components to be operated and the positions of the components, and the like.

Robots 1 and 2 generally include at least one end effector for picking up or manipulating accessories including, but not limited to, suction cups capable of being sucked to the surface of an accessory (e.g., a part and/or a specification) by negative pressure, clamps capable of clamping the accessory (e.g., a part and/or a specification), and part receiving and releasing devices described later. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the purpose of the end effectors of the manipulators 1 and 2 is to pick up or manipulate accessories, which may also be achieved in other ways, for example for ferromagnetic accessories, magnetic attraction may be used, etc.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2, the robot 1 may include a part receiving and releasing device 10, a suction cup 11. The robot 1 may further comprise a robot mount 12. The suction cup 11 is used, for example, mainly for sucking the packaging bag from the packaging bag station 7. It will be appreciated that the bag station 7 is not necessarily structural to the packaging apparatus of the present invention and for example the bags may be from other apparatus such as a conveyor, or a robot or the like from other apparatus. Further, it should also be understood that the suction cup 11 may also be used, for example, for sucking other parts, etc. in other processes, where appropriate. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the parts receiving and releasing device 10 includes, for example, a receiving cassette 101, a moving driver 102, and an openable and closable release funnel 103. The parts receiving and releasing device 10 having the receiving cassette 101 and the releasing hopper 103 is mounted on a rail (not shown) and driven by a moving driver 102 to move on the rail as needed. The receiving box 101 may be open above and connected to the release funnel 103 below. The receiving box 101 may also be integrally formed with the release hopper 103. The release hopper 103 may include a shutter (not shown) that can be automatically opened and closed to open and close as needed. The receiving box is used for receiving parts from the parts feeder 6, for example, and accurately feeding the parts into the packaging bag by opening the shutter of the release hopper 103 after the parts are conveyed to the packaging bag position. Of course, other mechanisms for receiving parts and releasing parts may be provided according to other embodiments of the invention, i.e. the part receiving and releasing device 10 may be implemented in other ways. For example, instead of the receiving magazine 101 and the release hopper 103, a gripping device or a suction cup like the suction cup 11 may be provided for applications of packing single large-sized parts, or an electromagnet may be provided for ferromagnetic materials, etc. Alternatively, the robot 1 may comprise only one suction cup 11 for both sucking the envelope and receiving and releasing the parts to be inserted into the envelope. The displacement drive 102 may be a pneumatic mechanism, a hydraulic mechanism, and/or an electric motor, etc.

As shown in fig. 3, the robot 2 includes at least a suction cup 21. According to a preferred embodiment, the robot 2 further includes a clamp 22, and the suction cup 21 and the clamp 22 as the end effector are mainly used for operating the manual to suck the manual and adjust the orientation of the manual. According to other preferred embodiments of the invention, the suction cup 21 and the gripping member 22 can also be used for handling other parts. Further, the suction cup 21 and the clamp 22 may also be driven by a driving mechanism (not shown) to adjust the positions thereof.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, the packaging station 4 comprises, for example, at least a portal frame 41 (fig. 4) and a bag-opening mechanism 42 (fig. 5).

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 4, the gantry 41 may include, for example, a top suction cup 411, a frame 412, a frame driver 413, a top driver 414, and a rail 415. In this embodiment, a magazine 412 is mounted on a track 415 and driven by a magazine drive 413 to move on the track 415. According to other preferred embodiments, a worm gear, a ball screw, or the like may be used to move the gantry 41. It should be understood that the gantry 41 is moved to access the bag handling location and, therefore, in other embodiments, the gantry may not be moved, i.e., the gantry does not have a frame drive and track for moving the gantry, as the robot 1 is designed to directly deliver the bag to the appropriate location relative to the gantry. The frame 412 is generally, for example, door-shaped or arch-shaped. The top suction cup 411 is installed on the upper portion of the frame 412, for example, at a position generally in the middle of the top of the frame, and can suck the upper surface of the packing bag by a negative pressure. In the preferred embodiment, the top suction cup 411 is movable in an up and down direction by the top drive 414 to cooperate with the bottom suction cup 421 of the bag opening mechanism 42 as described below to facilitate opening of the bag opening. However, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the gantry may not include the top driver 414, but the top suction cups 411 are fixed in place on the frame body 412, and when the packing bag is under the top suction cups 411, the top suction cups 411 may suck the upper surface of the packing bag by a suction force large enough, that is, as long as the opening of the packing bag mouth can be achieved. According to a preferred embodiment, the gantry 41 may further include an upper heat seal plate 416, and the upper heat seal plate 416 is mounted on the upper portion of the frame 412 and may be driven by the top drive 414 to move up and down. In embodiments where the gantry 41 includes both a top chuck 411 and an upper heat seal plate 416, the top drive 414 may drive both independently. Alternatively, the gantry 41 may include separate drives for driving the top chuck 411 and the upper heat seal plate 416, respectively. Additionally, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the magazine drive 413 and the top drive 414 may be pneumatic, hydraulic, and/or electric motors, among others.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 5, the bag-opening mechanism 42 may comprise a bottom suction cup 421, first and

second arms

422 and 423, first and

second actuators

424 and 425, a bottom plate 426, and a rotational actuator 427. The bottom suction cup 421, the first arm 422 and the second arm 423, and the first actuator 424 and the second actuator 425 of the bag-opening mechanism 42 may be disposed on the bottom plate 426 and rotate with the bottom plate 426, as described below. The bottom suction cups 421 can suck the lower surface of the packing bag by, for example, negative pressure to cooperate with the top suction cups 411 sucking the upper surface of the packing bag as described above, and open the mouth of the packing bag in the up-down direction to allow the first arm 422 and the second arm 423 to be inserted, thereby fitting the packing bag over the first arm 422 and the second arm 423. Preferably, the first and

second arms

422 and 423 may take the form of long, narrow struts as shown or gussets having a width. The first arm 422 and the second arm 423 can be moved toward or away from each other by a linkage mechanism, such as a pulley mechanism, a linkage mechanism, a worm gear mechanism, or a rack and pinion mechanism, driven by the first driver 424, such that the packaging pockets nested on both arms can be opened when the first arm 422 and the second arm 423 are moved away from each other. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the first and

second drivers

424, 425 may be pneumatic, hydraulic, and/or electric motors, etc.

In a preferred embodiment, the first arm 422, the second arm 423, the first actuator 424 and the associated linkage are disposed on at least one track 428 on the base plate 426 such that they are movable along the track 428 by actuation of the second actuator 425.

In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, bag opener 42 may further include a lower heat seal panel 429, wherein when all of the specifications, parts, etc. are placed in the package, the package mouth extends between lower heat seal panel 429 and upper heat seal panel 416 as described above, and upper heat seal panel 416 is then moved toward lower heat seal panel 429 to compress and apply heat to the mouth of the package to effect a heat seal of the mouth of the package. According to a further modification, one or both of the upper heat seal plate of the portal frame and the heat seal plate of the packaging station may be omitted, for example, in the case where the heat is sufficient, one of the upper heat seal plate of the portal frame and the heat seal plate of the packaging station may be replaced with a common platen, and heat sealing is achieved only by the other of the upper heat seal plate of the portal frame and the heat seal plate of the packaging station; or the package may be transported to another heat sealing station where heat sealing is accomplished. In addition, other sealing methods can be adopted at the packaging station to realize the sealing of the packaging bag opening, such as gluing, welding, sewing and the like, and only the corresponding packaging device is integrated at the packaging station instead of a heat sealing plate.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the base plate 426 is rotatably arranged on the frame 9, for example by means of a rotary support structure such as a rotary shaft 430 mounted at a suitable position below the base plate 426, such that the base plate 426 can be driven by a rotary drive 427, which may be, for example, a pneumatic mechanism, a hydraulic mechanism, a motor or the like, to move between a horizontal position (as shown in fig. 1 and 5) and a rotary position (not shown) relative to the frame 9. When the bottom plate 426 is in a horizontal position, i.e., the bottom plate 426 is flush with or parallel to the surface of the rack 9 (i.e., in a horizontal direction), the opening direction of the package bag opening is also oriented in the horizontal direction. When the bottom plate 426 is rotated about the rotary shaft 430 to a rotary position by the rotary driver 427, one end (e.g., the right end in fig. 5) of the bottom plate 426 is inclined downward, e.g., 45 ° to 70 °, preferably 60 °, with respect to the horizontal direction (i.e., the surface of the rack 9 (fig. 1)), so that the packaging bag opening direction is preferably inclined upward by 60 ° for receiving the specification, parts, and the like.

In addition, the automatic packaging device further comprises a pneumatic mechanism (not shown) for implementing negative pressure to the top suction cup 411 and the bottom suction cup 421, and the pneumatic mechanism can be arranged on the packaging station 4 or other suitable positions of the automatic packaging device.

The parts feeding means 6 are for example vibrating feed trays and the number of vibrating feed trays is at least one, preferably two (as shown in the preferred embodiment of the invention in fig. 1) to transport different parts according to the type of part, and each vibrating feed tray has a vibrating track and a discharge opening (not shown). As previously mentioned, the parts receiving and releasing device 10 of the robot 1 may receive parts below the outfeed opening. According to other embodiments of the present invention, other means for conveying parts, such as a conveyor belt, etc., may be employed as long as the robot 1 can receive parts at the output portion of the means for conveying parts. When the parts feeders 6 are plural (for example, two), the robot 1 can receive different parts respectively under the discharge ports of the plural parts feeders 6.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 6, the automatic packaging apparatus of the present invention may further include a weighing station W. The weighing station W includes a weighing device W1, a swing device W2, swing device drivers W3 and W4, and a frame W5 for mounting the swing device and its drivers. The swing device W2 is, for example, a rod-like member that can move in the up-down direction and the left-right direction by being driven by swing device drivers W3 and W4. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the final packaged package (package with various accessories such as description and various parts inside it) should have a prescribed number of accessories, and thus a standard weight. Therefore, when the weighing device W1 weighs the packaged final package, the final package meeting the standard weight is good. If the final package weight is found to be not in accordance with the standard weight, indicating that the final package lacks a fitment or contains an excess of a fitment, the final package can be judged to be defective. After the determination, classification of good products from defective products is performed, for example, by pushing the good products to one side of the weighing station W (e.g., into a conveyor belt or a collection container) or pushing the defective products to the other side of the weighing station W (e.g., into another conveyor belt or another collection container) by the swinging device W2. The above weighing judgment and the subsequent classification can be performed by controlling the weighing device W1 and the swinging device W2 by any control device, such as a PLC, a single chip microcomputer, a central processing unit, a microcomputer, and the like.

The automatic packaging method of the invention

Referring to the drawings, an automatic packing method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is described.

Step 1, the robot 1 moves, for example, to a bag station 7 to pick up a bag, for example, by sucking it with its suction cup 11. In this step, the robot 1 may also sense the position of the envelope through a sensor (not shown) provided thereon, so that the robot 1 can pick up (suck) the envelope at a correct position relatively accurately.

Step 1.1, under the condition that labeling is needed, the mechanical arm 1 conveys the packaging bag to the automatic labeling machine 3, and the automatic labeling machine 3 labels the packaging bag. It will be appreciated that this step 1.1 is not a necessary step, and may be omitted, for example, when labelling of the package is not required.

And 2, conveying the packaging bag to a packaging station 4 by the manipulator 1, adsorbing the lower surface of the packaging bag by a bottom sucker 421 of the bag opening mechanism 42 and adsorbing the upper surface of the packaging bag by a top sucker 411 of the portal frame at the packaging station 4 so as to open the opening of the packaging bag along the vertical direction. Specifically, while or after the bottom suction cups 421 suck the lower surfaces of the pouches, the gantry 41 is driven by the magazine driver 413 to move toward the pouches, the top suction cups 411 of the gantry 41 are extended downward and suck the upper surfaces of the pouches, and then the top suction cups 411 are retracted upward to open the mouths of the pouches in the up-and-down direction (in the process, the robot 1 may release the suction of the pouches and move to the next process, for example, step 4, at an appropriate timing).

Step 3, the first arm 422 and the second arm 423 are driven towards the package mouth and into the package mouth, whereafter the first arm 422 and the second arm 423 may be moved away from each other via a linkage mechanism under the drive of the first actuator 424 to open the package mouth, e.g. in a lateral direction. In this case, the bag opening faces in the horizontal direction, for example. Subsequently, the top suction cups 411 of the gantry 41 can be released and the gantry 41 is retracted in a direction away from the pouches, keeping the pockets open by the first arms 422, the second arms 423 and the bottom suction cups 421. In addition, when the first arm 422 and the second arm 423 are in the form of a supporting plate, since the supporting plate has a certain width, it can be ensured that the bag opening is sufficiently spread, and then the suction of the bottom suction cup 421 can be terminated, and the bag opening is kept open only by the first arm 422 and the second arm 423 in the form of the supporting plate.

Step 3.1, the bottom plate 426 of the packaging station 4 is rotated, for example by a rotation drive 427, through an angle such that the package mouth is inclined upwards, for example by 45 ° to 70 °, preferably 60 °. It will be appreciated that the rotation of the base plate 426 so that the mouth of the bag is inclined upwardly is intended to facilitate accurate dropping of parts into the bag when the robot 1 having the parts receiving and releasing device 10 receiving the magazine 101 and releasing the hopper 103 is used in a subsequent step, so that when the parts receiving and releasing device 10 is a gripper, suction cup, magnetic suction device or the like, such a device can be held horizontally into the bag, so that the packaging station 4 and the bag thereon can also be rotated without rotation, but remain horizontal, i.e. in this case step 3.1 can be omitted.

Step 3.2, the robot 2 moves to the description station 8 and picks up the description, for example by sucking it on its suction cup 21 or by gripping it with the gripper 22, and then puts it into the packaging bag through the opened packaging bag opening. In this step, it is also possible, according to the actual needs, to place the specifications picked up first at the intermediate station 5, then for example to terminate the suction of the suction cups 21 and to withdraw the suction cups 21, and then to grip the specifications at an angle by the gripping members 22 of the robot 2 and carry them to the wrapping station 4, in order to place them horizontally in the pouches opened at the wrapping station 4. In addition, this step 3.2 can also be omitted in case the accessory does not include the description.

The robot 1 then picks up at least one part and delivers the at least one part into a bag at a bag station, step 4. In particular, the robot 1, after transporting the packaging bag to the packaging station, can move to the parts conveyor 6 to pick up at least one part from the parts conveyor 6 by means of the parts receiving and releasing device 10 and transport the picked up at least one part into the packaging bag at the packaging station 4. In particular, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the robot 1 moves below the outfeed of the parts handler 6 and aligns the receiving magazine 101 with the outfeed and keeps the release hopper 103 closed, receiving at least one part at the outfeed; subsequently, when the robot 1 moves over the package mouth at the packaging station 4, the release funnel 103 opens and at least one part falls into the package. In the case where the mouth of the packing bag is opened in the horizontal direction, the robot arm 1 can feed the parts horizontally into the packing bag and release the parts. In the case of a large number of parts to be packed, the robot 1 may repeat the picking action to place a plurality of parts into the packing bag.

Optionally, step 5, after all the parts have been placed in the packaging bag, the packaging bag is sealed. Specifically, in a state where the packing station 4 is rotated to return to the horizontal position or to maintain the horizontal position, the first arm 422 and the second arm 423 are withdrawn from the packing bag, and the bottom suction cup 421 keeps sucking the packing bag. The bag attracted by the suction cup moves along the track 428 to the lower heat seal 429 by the second actuator 425. Gantry 41 is driven by a carriage drive 413 to move toward the packages, and a top drive 414 of gantry 41 drives upper heat seal plate 416 toward lower heat seal plate 429 to grip the upper and lower edges of the package mouth by upper heat seal plate 416 and lower heat seal plate 429, and then applies heat to the entire mouth for heat sealing to form the finished package. As described above, one of the upper heat seal plate 416 and the lower heat seal plate 429 may be replaced with a common platen, while the other of the upper heat seal plate 416 and the lower heat seal plate 429 is a heat seal plate, and heat sealing is achieved only by the other of the upper heat seal plate 416 and the lower heat seal plate 429. Additionally, it should be understood that while the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a step of packaging as step 5, step 5 may be omitted for other applications where packaging is not required and only the fitment needs to be placed in the bag.

In addition, after all the accessories have been packaged or packaged into a final package (i.e., the package and the various accessories therein) in step 4 or optional step 5, the packaging method of the present invention may further include a step for determining whether the final package is good. For example, after step 4 or optionally after step 5, the robot 2 carries the finished packages to the weighing station W as described above, to drive the oscillating means by means of the oscillating means driver, according to the weighing result, to push the finished packages in different directions by means of the oscillating means, for sorting. According to a preferred embodiment, and as mentioned above, this sorting is for example a sorting of good and bad products by weighing to determine whether the final package is of a weight that meets a standard. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the determination and sorting may be performed by other methods than by the weighing station W as described above, for example by manual inspection and sorting.

It should be noted that the packaging method including the above steps is a preferred method proposed by the present invention, and some of the steps and actions of the related components may be deleted, added, modified and changed within the spirit and scope of the present invention without departing from the scope of the present invention.

According to a preferred embodiment, before step 1, the method further comprises blowing the packaging bag by an ion fan arranged nearby the packaging bag station 7 to eliminate static electricity on the packaging bag.

According to a preferred embodiment, in step 1.1, the operation of the automatic labeling machine is preferably controlled by a PLC, and the labeling result is fed back to the PLC after the label is attached.

According to a preferred embodiment, after step 4 is completed, robot 1 moves back to bag station 7 to pick up the next bag and repeats the actions of steps 1-4.

THE ADVANTAGES OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The packaging apparatus and method of the present invention achieves a number of advantages over prior art packaging apparatus and methods. Because two manipulators are used for picking up different parts (such as packaging bags, specifications, various parts and the like) to be packaged, the parallel operation of the parts can be realized, and the packaging efficiency is improved. The packaging station 4 can realize opening of the packaging bag opening, rotation and packaging of the packaging bag, simplify the packaging process, ensure smooth bag entering of parts and the like. Furthermore, whether the final packaging piece belongs to a good product or not can be judged and automatically classified.

It should be noted that although the present invention has been described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings with reference to various embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-described embodiments are merely preferred embodiments and that certain features of the embodiments may not be necessary to solve particular technical problems so that they may be omitted or omitted without affecting the solution of the technical problems or the formation of the technical solutions. Features, elements, and/or functions of one embodiment may be combined, coupled, or coordinated with features, elements, and/or functions of one or more other embodiments as appropriate, unless the combination, coupling, or coordination is clearly not practical. It is to be understood that the invention is adapted to carry out all of the objects and other advantages of the system and method, which are obvious and inherent, as described above. It will be understood that some features and sub-combinations are useful and may be used without reference to other features and sub-combinations. This is to be considered as falling within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An automatic packaging apparatus comprising:

a first manipulator having an end effector;

a packaging station, comprising:

the portal frame is provided with a frame body and a top sucker arranged on the upper part of the frame body;

a bag-opening mechanism having a bottom suction cup, first and second arms, first and second drivers, and a track, wherein the first driver drives the first and second arms toward or away from each other through a linkage mechanism, and wherein the first and second arms, the first driver, and the linkage mechanism are disposed on the track and driven by the second driver to move on the track.

2. The automated packaging apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a second robot having an end effector, wherein the end effector of the first robot is adapted to pick up at least the first part and the end effector of the second robot is adapted to pick up at least the second part.

3. The automated packaging apparatus of claim 2, further comprising an instruction station from which the second robot can pick the instruction as the second part.

4. The automatic packaging apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a parts feeder from which the first robot can receive at least one part as the first part.

5. The automatic packaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the gantry further comprises a top drive mounted on an upper portion of the frame, the top drive being capable of driving the top chuck to move up and down relative to the frame.

6. The automated packaging apparatus of claim 5, wherein the gantry further comprises an upper heat seal panel disposed on an upper portion of the frame, the upper heat seal panel being driven by the top drive to move up and down relative to the frame.

7. The automatic packaging apparatus of claim 5 or 6, wherein the gantry further comprises a magazine drive and a rail, and the magazine is mounted on the rail and driven by the magazine drive to move on the rail.

8. The automatic packaging apparatus of claim 1 wherein the bag-opening mechanism further comprises a base plate and a rotary drive for rotating the base plate between a rotated position and a horizontal position, wherein the bottom suction cup, the first and second arms, the first and second drives, the track and the linkage are disposed on the base plate and are rotatable with the base plate.

9. The automated packaging apparatus of claim 8, wherein the bag opener further comprises a lower heat seal panel disposed on the base panel.

10. The automated packaging apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a weighing station comprising:

a weighing device, a swinging device driver for driving the swinging device.

11. An automated packaging method comprising:

using the automated packaging apparatus of claim 1 to perform the steps of:

step 1, a first manipulator picks up a packaging bag;

step 2, conveying the packaging bag to a packaging station by a first manipulator, wherein at the packaging station, a bottom sucker of a bag opening mechanism adsorbs the lower surface of the packaging bag, and a top sucker of a portal frame adsorbs the upper surface of the packaging bag so as to open the opening of the packaging bag in the vertical direction;

step 3, driving the first arm and the second arm by the second driver towards the packaging bag opening and extending into the packaging bag opening, and then driving the first arm and the second arm by the first driver to move away from each other so as to open the packaging bag opening along the transverse direction;

and 4, picking up at least one part by the first mechanical arm, and conveying the at least one part into a packaging bag at the packaging bag station.

12. The automated packaging method of claim 11 wherein the bag opening mechanism further comprises a base plate and a rotary drive for rotating the base plate between a rotated position and a horizontal position, wherein the bottom suction cup, the first and second arms, the first and second drives, the track and the linkage are disposed on the base plate and are rotatable with the base plate,

and the method further comprises:

after the packaging bag opening is transversely opened in the step 3, the bottom plate is rotated to a rotating position from a horizontal position through a rotating driver, so that the packaging bag opening is inclined upwards; and

after the at least one part is transferred into the bag at the bag station in step 4, the base plate is rotated to the horizontal position by the rotary drive.

13. The automated packaging method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the automated packaging apparatus further comprises a second robot having an end effector, and the step 3 further comprises:

the instruction sheet is picked up by the second manipulator and put into the packaging bag through the opened packaging bag opening.

14. The automated packaging method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the gantry further comprises a top drive installed at an upper portion of the frame, wherein the step 2 further comprises: the top suction cup is driven by the top drive to move toward the package and to suck the upper surface of the package.

15. The automated packaging method of claim 11, further comprising, after step 4, step 5: after all the parts have been placed in the package, the package is sealed to form the final package.

16. The automated packaging process of claim 15, wherein the gantry further comprises an upper heat seal panel disposed on an upper portion of the frame, the upper heat seal panel being driven by the top drive, and the bag opener further comprises a lower heat seal panel disposed on the base panel,

wherein, in step 5: the first and second arms are withdrawn from the package, the bottom suction cup maintains suction against the lower surface of the package, the package is moved onto the lower heat seal panel under the drive of the second drive, the upper heat seal panel is driven by the top drive to move toward the lower heat seal panel to grip the upper and lower edges of the package mouth with the upper and lower heat seal panels, and heat is then applied to the entire mouth to heat seal the package to form the finished package.

17. The automated packaging method of claim 11, 15 or 16, wherein the automated packaging apparatus further comprises a weighing station comprising: the device comprises a weighing device, a swinging device and a swinging device driver for driving the swinging device to move;

after forming the final package in step 4 or in step 5, the method further comprises a weighing step:

the final packages are weighed by the weighing device and driven by the swing device driver according to the weighing result to push the final packages in different directions by the swing device for sorting.