SE1450835A1

SE1450835A1 - Arrangement and method for producing a reinforcement cage

Info

Publication number: SE1450835A1
Application number: SE1450835A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Lars Pettersson; Pertti Johansson; Håkan Svensson
Original assignee: Skanska Sverige Ab
Priority date: 2014-07-03
Filing date: 2014-07-03
Publication date: 2016-01-04
Also published as: EP3164233A1; CA2953868A1; WO2016001290A1; US20170157664A1; SE542398C2; FI3164233T3; EP3164233B1; DK3164233T3

Abstract

The present invention relates to an arrangement and method for producing a reinforcement cage 100. The arrangement 1000 comprises: a control unit 700, and an assembler 500, the control unit 700 being arranged to provide reinforcement cage information relating to at least one from the group of position, order, and dimension of reinforcement bars in said reinforcement cage 100, and the assembler 500 being arranged to assemble reinforcement bars in accordance with said reinforcement cage information, thus producing said reinforcement cage 100.To be published with Fig. 1.

Description

AWAPATENT AB Kontor/HandläggareMalmö/Julia Mannesson/JSV Skanska Sverige AB Ansökningsnr Vår referens SE-210682001 ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A REINFORCEMENTCAGE Technical field The present invention relates to a method, and an arrangement for producing a reinforcement cage.

Background art Reinforcement cages can, e.g., be used for reinforcement of bridge piers.Such reinforcement cages may have a large size, e.g., 10x10m. However,reinforcement cages of that size are difficult, if not impossible, to transportfrom a factory to a building site. Therefore, only smaller reinforcement cagescan be built and transported to the construction site.

When producing reinforcement cages, usually, the factory firstproduces reinforcement bars of a certain predefined dimension and withcertain predefined bends. After that, another type of reinforcement bar isproduced. Thereafter, people manually arrange the reinforcement bars andmanually attach them to each other. This is time-consuming and expensive.

Furthermore, the risk of the people making errors is quite high.

Summary of the invention ln view of the above, an objective of the invention is to solve or at leastreduce one or several of the drawbacks discussed above. Generally, theabove objective is achieved by the attached independent patent claims.

According to a first aspect, the present invention is realized by anarrangement for producing at least one reinforcement cage. The arrangementcomprises: a control unit, and an assembler, the control unit being arrangedto provide reinforcement cage information relating to at least one from thegroup of position, order, and dimension of reinforcement bars in saidreinforcement cage, and the assembler being arranged to assemble reinforcement bars in accordance with said reinforcement cage information,thus producing said reinforcement cage.

This is advantageous in that the structure of the reinforcement cagecan be carefully planned before assembling the reinforcement cage.Furthermore, the production can be automated, more efficient and less likelyto contain errors.

The assembler may comprise a reinforcement bar provider, at leastone carrier robot, and an attachment robot, the at least one carrier robotbeing arranged to pick reinforcement bars from the reinforcement bar providerand to arrange the reinforcement bars on a surface in accordance with saidreinforcement cage information, and the attachment robot being arranged toattach the reinforcement bars arranged on the surface to each other inaccordance with said reinforcement cage information, thus producing said atleast one reinforcement cage.

This is advantageous in that the process of producing reinforcementcages can be automated. lnstead of at least one person manually arrangingthe reinforcement bars and manually attaching them together, this is carriedout by the robots. Additionally, the production can be performed on site andthe reinforcement cages need not be transported from a factory.

The reinforcement bar provider may provide reinforcement bars inaccordance with said reinforcement cage information. This is advantageous inthat the production can be automated, more efficient and less likely to containerrors.

The reinforcement bar provider may further comprise a supply havingat least one roll of reinforcement bar, the reinforcement bar provider beingarranged to select a roll of reinforcement bar having a dimension inaccordance with said reinforcement cage information, and retrieve a part ofthe roll of reinforcement bar, and arranged to bend, straighten, and/or cut thepart in accordance with said reinforcement cage information. This isadvantageous in that rolls of reinforcement bar may be used. Transport ofrolls of reinforcement bar is cost efficient and relatively simple.

The arrangement may further comprise the at least one carrier robotbeing arranged to hold the part during bending and/or cutting of the part. This is advantageous in that the carrier robot must not pick the part up afterbending and/or cutting which is time efficient and reduces risks of errors.

The reinforcement bar provider may further comprise a supply havingpre-cut and/or pre-bent reinforcement bars, and the reinforcement barprovider may be arranged to select pre-cut and/or pre-bent reinforcementbars from the supply in accordance with said reinforcement cage information.This is advantageous in that the reinforcement bar provider does not need tobend and/or cut rolls of reinforcement bar.

The reinforcement bar provider may be arranged at a first side of thesurface, a second reinforcement bar provider may be arranged at a secondside of the surface, and the second side may be orthogonai to the first side ofthe surface. ln one embodiment, the second side may be opposite to the firstside of the surface. This is advantageous in that the production of reinforce-ment cages can be speeded up since the robots have shorter paths to travel.

The arrangement may further comprise at least one holder arranged onthe surface and arranged for receiving at least one reinforcement bar. This isadvantageous in that arranging of the first reinforcement bars on the surfaceis simplified since they can be held in place by holders.

The arrangement may further comprise a crane arranged to transportthe at least one reinforcement cage from the surface to a form. This is advan-tageous in that the entire production process can be automated. Furthermore,the reinforcement cages can be produced at the site where they will be used.

The arrangement may further comprise a protective tent arranged overat least one of the control unit, the reinforcement bar provider, the at least onecarrier robot, the attachment robot, and the surface. This is advantageous inthat the production of reinforcement cages can continue even during badweather conditions such as, e.g., rain and wind.

The arrangement may further comprise the at least one carrier robotbeing arranged to acquire at least one image of reinforcement bars providedby the reinforcement bar provider, to compare the at least one image with atleast one stored image, and to pick reinforcement bars in accordance with aresult of the comparison. This is advantageous in that the at least one carrierrobot is able to recognize the reinforcement bar that it is supposed to fetch.

According to a second aspect, the present invention is realized by amethod for producing a reinforcement cage. The method comprises: a controlunit providing reinforcement cage information re|ating to at least one from thegroup of position, order, and dimension of reinforcement bars in thereinforcement cage, and an assembler assembling reinforcement bars inaccordance with said reinforcement cage information, thus producing saidreinforcement cage.

The assembler may comprise a reinforcement bar provider, at leastone carrier robot, and an attachment robot. The method may furthercomprise: the at least one carrier robot picking reinforcement bars from thereinforcement bar provider and arranging the reinforcement bars on a surfacein accordance with said reinforcement cage information, the attachment robotattaching the reinforcement bars arranged on the surface to each other inaccordance with said reinforcement cage information.

The method may further comprise the reinforcement bar provider toprovide reinforcement bars in accordance with said reinforcement cageinformation.

The method may further comprise the reinforcement bar providerselecting, from a supply having at least one roll of reinforcement bar, a roll ofreinforcement bar having a dimension in accordance with said reinforcementcage information, and retrieving a part of the roll of reinforcement bar, andbending, straightening, and/or cutting the part in accordance with saidreinforcement cage information.

The method may further comprise the at least one carrier robot holdingthe part during bending and/or cutting of the part.

The method may further comprise the at least one carrier robotacquiring at least one image of reinforcement bars provided by thereinforcement bar provider, comparing the at least one image with at leastone stored image, and picking reinforcement bars in accordance with a resultof the comparison.

According to a third aspect, the present invention is realized by amethod for producing a reinforcement cage. The method comprises:generating a computer file comprising the reinforcement cage information of the second aspect, providing the control unit with said reinforcement cageinformation, and performing the steps of any one of the embodiments of thesecond aspect. This is advantageous in that the process can be fullyautomated.

The method may further comprise a crane transporting the reinforce-ment cage from the surface to a form.

According to a fourth aspect, the present invention is rea|ized by acomputer program product comprising a computer-readable medium withinstructions for performing the method of any one of the aspects two or three.

The advantages of the first aspect are equally applicable to the secondand the third aspect. Furthermore, it is to be noted that the second aspect canbe embodied in accordance with the first aspect, and the first aspect can beembodied in accordance with the second aspect.

Other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention willappear from the following detailed disclosure, from the attached claims aswell as from the drawings.

Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted accordingto their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly definedotherwise herein. All references to "a/an/the [element, device, component,means, step, etc]" are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least oneinstance of said element, device, component, means, step, etc., unlessexplicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do nothave to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

Brief Description of the Drawinqs Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferredembodiment, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the inventivearrangement.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the inventive arrangement.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the inventivearrangement.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments ofthe invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments setforth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey thescope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to likeelements throughout.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the inventivearrangement 1000 for producing reinforcement cages and illustrates aconstruction site. A reinforcement cage 100 that has been produced by thearrangement is arranged in a form 200. The reinforcement cage 100 hasbeen moved to the form 200 by a crane 300. ln one embodiment, the crane300 receives coordinates of the position of the form 200. The form 200 can,e.g., be used for casting bridge piers, slabs for buildings, base plates, etc.Fig. 1 further illustrates an assembler 500 and a control unit 700. Theassembler is producing a reinforcement cage 100 by assemblingreinforcement bars.

The control unit 700 is arranged to provide reinforcement cageinformation. A reinforcement cage comprises a plurality of reinforcement barsattached to each other. The reinforcement cage can have any shape. Thereinforcement cage information can describe a structure of reinforcementcages. The reinforcement cage information can comprise information aboutposition, order, and/or dimension of reinforcement bars in the reinforcementcage.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the inventivearrangement 1000. Reinforcement cage 100 is under production and isarranged on a surface 400. The surface 400 can, e.g., be cast concrete.

The assembler 500 comprises an attachment robot 510 and two carrierrobots 520. The robots can be arranged on a robot holder 530. The robotholder 530 is arranged to move in a direction perpendicular to the direction inwhich the robots are arranged to move. ln this way, the robots can be movedover the entire part of the surface 400 onto which reinforcement bars arearranged. ln this example, the number of carrier robots 520 is two. lt is to benoted that it is also possible to have one carrier robot or more than two carrierrobots.

The assembler 500 also comprises a reinforcement bar provider 540which provides reinforcement bars. The reinforcement bar provider 540 mayarrange the reinforcement bars on a bar surface 542. The carrier robots 520pick reinforcement bars from the reinforcement bar provider 540 and arrangethem on the surface 400 in accordance with a predetermined pattern. The firstreinforcement bars to be placed on the surface 400 can be arranged inholders. These holders can be placed on the surface by, e.g., at least onecarrier robot and/or at least one person. Alternatively, the reinforcement barscan be bent such that they can stay in position on the surface 400 on theirown without any holder holding them. The first reinforcement bars to beplaced on the surface 400 can, e.g., be reinforcement bars being part of a firstlayer of the reinforcement cage 100. The first layer of the reinforcement cage100 is the layer closest to the surface 400 during production.

When the attachment robot 510 attaches the reinforcement bars toeach other, at least one carrier robot can hold at least one of the reinforce-ment bars in place. The attachment robot can attach the reinforcement barsto each other by, e.g., welding, gluing, using clips and/or lashing.

The reinforcement bar provider 540 may have a supply having pre-cutand/or pre-bent reinforcement bars. ln another embodiment, the reinforce-ment bar provider 540 may have a supply 600 having at least one roll 610 ofreinforcement bar. ln this embodiment, there are four rolls 610 of reinforce-ment bar. The rolls 610 of reinforcement bar can have different thicknesses.The reinforcement bar provider 540 selects a roll 610 of reinforcement barhaving the desired thickness, retrieves a part of the roll 610 of reinforcementbar, and bends, straightens, and/or cuts the part as desired in order to provide a reinforcement bar. During bending and/or cutting of the part, thecarrier robot 510 can hold the part. The two embodiments of the supply canbe combined and/or used separately.

The reinforcement cage information can comprise information aboutwhich roll 610 of reinforcement bar the reinforcement bar provider 540 is toselect. ln one embodiment, the control unit 700 is arranged to instruct thereinforcement bar provider 540 which roll 610 of reinforcement bar thereinforcement bar provider 540 is to select.

Fig. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the inventivearrangement 1000. ln this embodiment, there is a second reinforcement barprovider 800 arranged at a second side of the surface 400. The second side420 is orthogonal to the first side 410 of the surface 400. ln one embodiment(not shown), the second side of the surface is parallel to the first side.

When planning the reinforcement cages to be produced, a 3D (three-dimensional) model of the reinforcement cage is created including informationabout position, order, and dimension of reinforcement bars. Thereinforcement cage information referred to herein can be created and/orextracted from the 3D model. The 3D model can, e.g., be generated usingcomputer-aided design (CAD).

Dimension can, e.g., be thickness and/or length of reinforcement bars.Position can be in what position the reinforcement bars are to be arranged inthe reinforcement cage, e.g., coordinates and orientation. Thus, position canbe in what positions the carrier robots arrange reinforcement bars. Order can,e.g., be in what order the reinforcement bars are to be arranged on thesurface. Hence, the order can also be in what order the reinforcement barprovider is to provide the reinforcement bars and in what order the carrierrobots are to pick which reinforcement bar. The predetermined patternmentioned before can be determined from the order and position of thereinforcement cage information.

The reinforcement cage information can be sent to the control unit. Thecontrol unit uses the reinforcement cage information to provide at least one ofthe reinforcement bar provider 540, the second reinforcement bar provider800 the robots 510, 520, and the portal 530 with instructions. ln one embodiment, the control unit instructs the first and the second reinforcementbar providers 540 and 800 to select rolls of reinforcement bar in accordancewith the reinforcement cage information and to bend, straighten, and/or cutthe part in accordance with the reinforcement cage information.

A protective tent (not shown) can be arranged over at least one of thecontrol unit 700, the assembler 500, the second reinforcement bar provider800, and the surface 400. The protective tent can be opened in order for thecrane 300 to move the produced reinforcement cages. ln one embodiment, the at least one carrier robot acquires at least oneimage of the reinforcement bars provided by the reinforcement bar provider.More specifically, reinforcement bars arranged on the bar surface arephotographed. The images (photographs) are compared with stored images.This comparison can, e.g., be performed by either the carrier robot or thecontrol unit. The carrier robot then picks the reinforcement bars for which thephotographs correspond to the stored images. When comparing storedimages with the photographs, the size and shape of the reinforcement barscan be compared. This embodiment is particularly advantageous when thesupply has pre-cut and/or pre-bent reinforcement bars. From the storedimages, the carrier robot can also receive information regarding at what partof the reinforcement bar to grip. ln one embodiment, in order to increase the rate of the production ofreinforcement cages, the reinforcement bar provider can be instructed toprovide next reinforcement bar before the carrier robot/robots is/are ready topick the next reinforcement bar. This can be realized by the control unitmonitoring the robots and then instructing the reinforcement bar provider toprovide next reinforcement bar. Alternatively the carrier robot can inform thecontrol unit that it needs a reinforcement bar and the control unit can theninstruct the reinforcement bar provider to provide next reinforcement bar.

The inventive method and arrangement can almost fully automaticallyprovide reinforcement cages. A method for producing at least onereinforcement cage can comprise the steps of: generating a computer filecomprising the reinforcement bar information, providing the control unit withthe reinforcement bar information, and producing the at least one reinforcement cage. A crane can transport the at least one reinforcementcage from the surface to a form. These steps can be performed automatically.No human needs to be involved in these steps.

The arrangement can be packed in a container and transported to aconstruction site. Hence, the parts of the arrangement are mobile. Thesurface 400 is cast at the site and the arrangement is unpacked and installedin connection to the surface 400. lt is to be noted that all embodiments and features described in thisapplication are applicable on all aspects of the invention.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to beconsidered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; the invention is notlimited to the disclosed embodiments.

Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood andeffected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from astudy of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. ln the claims,the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and theindefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor orother unit may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. Themere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependentclaims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot beused to advantage. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construedas limiting the scope.

Claims

1. An arrangement (1000) for producing a reinforcement cage (100)comprising a control unit (700), and an assembler (500), the control unit (700) being arranged to provide reinforcement cageinformation relating to at least one from the group of position, order, anddimension of reinforcement bars in said reinforcement cage (100), and the assembler (500) being arranged to assemble reinforcement bars inaccordance with said reinforcement cage information, thus producing saidreinforcement cage (100).

2. The arrangement (1000) according to c|aim 1, the assembler (500)comprising a reinforcement bar provider (540), at least one carrier robot(520), and an attachment robot (510), the at least one carrier robot (520) being arranged to pickreinforcement bars from the reinforcement bar provider (540) and to arrangethe reinforcement bars on a surface (400) in accordance with saidreinforcement cage information, and the attachment robot (510) being arranged to attach the reinforcementbars arranged on the surface (400) to each other in accordance with said reinforcement cage information.

3. The arrangement (1000) according to c|aim 2, the control unit (700) beingarranged to instruct the reinforcement bar provider (540) to providereinforcement bars in accordance with said reinforcement cage information.

4. The arrangement (1000) according to any one of claims 2-3, thereinforcement bar provider (540) further comprising a supply (600) having atleast one roll (610) of reinforcement bar, the reinforcement bar provider (540)being arranged to select a roll (610) of reinforcement bar having a dimension inaccordance with said reinforcement cage information, and 12 retrieve a part of the roll (610) of reinforcement bar, and arranged tobend, straighten, and/or cut the part in accordance with said reinforcementcage information.

5. The arrangement (1000) according to claim 4, further comprising the atleast one carrier robot (520) being arranged to hold the part during bendingand/or cutting of the part.

6. The arrangement (1000) according to any one of claims 2-5, thereinforcement bar provider (540) further comprising a supply having pre-cutand/or pre-bent reinforcement bars, and the reinforcement bar provider (540) being arranged to select pre-cutand/or pre-bent reinforcement bars from the supply in accordance with saidreinforcement cage information.

7. The arrangement (1000) according to any one of the preceding claims,further comprising the reinforcement bar provider (540) being arranged at afirst side (410) of the surface, a second reinforcement bar provider (540)being arranged at a second side (420) of the surface, and the second side(420) being orthogonal to the first side (410) of the surface.

8. The arrangement (1000) according to any one of the preceding claims,further comprising at least one holder arranged on the surface (400) andarranged for receiving at least one reinforcement bar.

9. The arrangement (1000) according to any one of the preceding claims,further comprising a crane (300) arranged to transport the reinforcement cage(100) from the surface (400) to a form (200).

10. The arrangement (1000) according to any one of the preceding claims,further comprising a protective tent arranged over at least one of the controlunit (700), the reinforcement bar provider (540), the at least one carrier robot(520), the attachment robot (510), and the surface (400). 13

11. The arrangement (1000) according to any one of the preceding claims,further comprising the at least one carrier robot (520) being arranged toacquire at least one image of reinforcement bars provided by thereinforcement bar provider (540), to compare the at least one image with atleast one stored image, and to pick reinforcement bars in accordance with aresult of the comparison.

12. A method for producing a reinforcement cage (100) comprising: a control unit (700) providing reinforcement cage information re|ating toat least one from the group of position, order, and dimension of reinforcementbars in the reinforcement cage, and an assembler (500) assembling reinforcement bars in accordance withsaid reinforcement cage information, thus producing said reinforcement cage(100).

13. The method according to claim 12, the assembler (500) comprising areinforcement bar provider (540), at least one carrier robot (520), and anattachment robot (510), the method further comprising: the at least one carrier robot (520) picking reinforcement bars from thereinforcement bar provider (540) and arranging the reinforcement bars on asurface (400) in accordance with said reinforcement cage information, and the attachment robot (510) attaching the reinforcement bars arrangedon the surface (400) to each other in accordance with said reinforcement cage information.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprisingthe reinforcement bar provider (540) providing reinforcement bars in accordance with said reinforcement cage information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 13-14, further comprising 14 the reinforcement bar selecting, from a supply (600) having at leastone roll (610) of reinforcement bar, a roll (610) of reinforcement bar having adimension in accordance with said reinforcement cage information, and retrieving a part of the roll (610) of reinforcement bar, and bending,straightening, and/or cutting the part in accordance with said reinforcementcage information.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the at least onecarrier robot (520) holding the part during bending and/or cutting of the part.

17. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, furthercomprising the at least one carrier robot (520) acquiring at least one image ofreinforcement bars provided by the reinforcement bar provider (540),comparing the at least one image with at least one stored image, and pickingreinforcement bars in accordance with a result of the comparison.

18. Method for producing a reinforcement cage (100) comprising: generating a computer file comprising the reinforcement cageinformation of claim 12, providing the control unit (700) with said reinforcement cageinformation, and performing the steps of any one of claims 12-17.

19. Method according to claim 18, further comprising:a crane (300) transporting the reinforcement cage (100) from thesurface (400) to a form (200).

20. Computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium withinstructions for performing the method of any of the preceding claims.