SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SORTING ITEMS

• US 20080099381A1
• Filed: 10/26/2006
• Published: 05/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Align Technology Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Align Technology Incorporated
• Inventors: Culp, James Clete, Sankaran, Stanley E.
• Granted Patent: US 8,030,588 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 209/577
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/02 Apparatus characterised by the means used for distribution
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 5/34 Sorting according to other particular properties material testing per se G01N; quality control G07C3/14
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 5/3412 according to a code applied to the object which indicates a property of the object, e.g. quality class, contents or incorrect indication sorting according to size measured by light-responsive means B07C5/10; sorting according to optical properties B07C5/342; for packages B65D79/02; for information carriers G06K7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41865 characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A system and associated method is provided for sorting parts, which includes a conveyor system for receiving and circulating a plurality of randomly presented parts, a sorting buffer for accumulating selected parts from the plurality of randomly presented parts in an assigned buffer location, and a sequencing system for sequencing the accumulated selected parts.

Claims

1. A part sorting process comprising:

loading a plurality of randomly presented parts;

sorting at least one selected part of the randomly presented palls into a group of associated parts; and

sequencing the group of associated parts.

2. The part sorting process of claim 1, wherein said plurality of randomly presented parts comprises a plurality of randomly presented dental aligners.

3. The part sorting process of claim 1, further comprising positioning the at least one selected part of the plurality of randomly presented parts into a part carrier.

4. The part sorting process of claim 3, wherein said loading a plurality of randomly presented parts comprises selecting one of the plurality of randomly presented parts and mapping an identification of the selected one of the plurality of randomly presented parts to an identification of the part carrier.

5. The part sorting process of claim 3, further comprising:

identifying the orientation of the selected one of the plurality of randomly presented parts; and

manipulating the at least one selected part of the plurality of randomly presented parts to achieve a desired orientation.

6. The part sorting process of claim 1, wherein sorting at least one selected part of the randomly presented parts into a group of associated parts comprises:

assigning one of the at least one selected part to a buffer location;

advancing the at least one selected part to a receiving portion of the assigned buffer location; and

advancing the at least one selected part into the assigned buffer location.

7. The part sorting process of claim 1, wherein sorting at least one selected part of the randomly presented parts into groups of associated parts comprises accumulating the at least one selected part of the randomly presented parts into a buffer location.

8. The part sorting process of claim 1, wherein sorting at least one selected part of the randomly presented parts into groups of associated parts comprises:

assigning a first selected part to a first buffer location;

assigning a second selected part to a second buffer location;

advancing the first selected part to a receiving portion of the assigned first buffer location;

advancing the first selected part into the assigned first buffer location;

advancing the second selected part to a receiving portion of the assigned second buffer location; and

advancing the second selected part into the assigned second buffer location.

9. The part sorting process of claim 1, further comprising storing an incomplete group of associated parts in a first storage location.

10. The part sorting process of claim 9, wherein storing incomplete groups of associated parts in a first storage location comprises:

loading an incomplete group of associated parts onto at least one pallet, and

routing the at least one pallet to the first storage location.

11. The part sorting process of claim 10, further comprising:

removing the at least one pallet from the first storage location;

unloading incomplete groups of associated parts off of the at least one pallet; and

completing the incomplete groups of associated parts.

12. The part sorting process of claim 9, wherein the first storage location is a carousel.

13. The part sorting process of claim 1, wherein sequencing the group of associated parts comprises sequencing the group of associated parts into a numerical sequence.

14. The part sorting process of claim 1, wherein sequencing the group of associated parts comprises:

assigning each of the associated parts a sequencing location; and

advancing each of the associated parts to its respective assigned sequencing location until each of the associated parts are grouped into a predetermined sequence.

15. The part sorting process of claim 1, wherein sequencing the group of associated parts comprises:

assigning one of the associated parts to a first sequencing location; and

advancing the assigned one of the associated parts to the assigned first sequencing location.

16. The part sorting process of claim 1 further comprising conveying unidentified parts to a quality control station.

17. The part sorting process of claim 1, further comprising continuously loading unselected randomly presented parts until all randomly presented parts have been selected.

18. A part sorting process comprising:

loading a plurality of randomly presented parts;

assigning a selected part from the plurality of randomly presented parts to a buffer location;

accumulating selected parts in the assigned buffer location; and

sequencing the group of accumulated parts.

19. The part sorting process of claim 18, wherein said plurality of randomly presented parts comprises a plurality of randomly presented dental aligners.

20. A system for sorting parts comprising:

a system for receiving and circulating a plurality of randomly presented parts;

a sorting buffer for accumulating at least one selected part from the plurality of randomly presented parts in an assigned buffer location; and

a sequencing system for sequencing the accumulated selected parts.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising a first vision system including a visual reader for identifying and selecting parts from the plurality of randomly presented parts and a picking mechanism for transferring the selected parts.

22. The system of claim 20, further comprising an indexing table for receiving the at least one selected part in a random orientation and wherein said indexing table comprises a mechanism for manipulating the selected part to achieve a desired orientation.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein said indexing table comprises a part identifier configured to map an identification of the selected part to an identification of a part carrier.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein said indexing table comprises a mechanism for positioning the selected part into the part carrier.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein the plurality of randomly presented parts comprises a plurality of randomly presented dental aligners.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein the sorting buffer comprises:

a reader for identifying each selected part and assigning the selected part to a buffer location;

a plurality of buffer locations including a receiving portion;

a pusher mechanism to advance the selected part into the assigned buffer location as the selected part reaches the receiving portion.

27. The system of claim 20, wherein the sorting buffer comprises a means for separating at least one selected part from the plurality of randomly presented parts and accumulating the separated parts into groups of associated parts.

28. The system of claim 20, further comprising a storing system configured to store an incomplete group of accumulated selected parts in a first storage location.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the storing system comprises:

a first mechanism for loading the incomplete group of accumulated selected parts onto at least one pallet; and

a second mechanism for routing the at least one pallet to the first storage location.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the first storage location comprises a carousel.

31. The system of claim 20, wherein the sequencing system comprises a means for sequencing the group of accumulated selected parts into a numerical sequence.

32. The system of claim 20, wherein the sequencing system comprises:

a means for assigning each of the accumulated selected parts a sequencing location; and

a means for advancing each of the accumulated selected parts to its respective assigned sequencing location until each of the accumulated selected parts are grouped into a predetermined sequence.

33. The system of claim 20, further comprising a quality control station.