Track System for Creating Finished Products

• US 20180072445A1
• Filed: 09/08/2017
• Published: 03/15/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
• Original Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
• Inventors: Burkhard, Ryan Andrew, Moore, Nathan E, Fikes, Elizabeth Marie, Royce, Daniel Richard, Orndorff, Jason Matthew, Lyman, Christopher Robert
• Granted Patent: US 10,640,249 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 2210/02 Plurality of alternative input or output lines or plurality of alternative packaging units on the same packaging line for improving machine flexibility
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 2210/04 Customised on demand packaging by determining a specific characteristic, e.g. shape or height, of articles or material to be packaged and selecting, creating or adapting a packaging accordingly, e.g. making a carton starting from web material
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 3/04 Methods of, or means for, filling the material into the containers or receptacles
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 43/52 using roller-ways or endless conveyors
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 59/00 Arrangements to enable machines to handle articles of different sizes, to produce packages of different sizes, to vary the contents of packages , to handle different types of packaging material, or to give access for cleaning or maintenance purposes
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 59/001 Arrangements to enable adjustments related to the product to be packaged
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 59/003 Arrangements to enable adjustments related to the packaging material
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 65/003 Packaging lines, e.g. general layout
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 65/006 Multiple parallel packaging lines
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 7/00 Closing containers or receptacles after filling
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2201/0235 Containers
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 23/23 of electric linear motors
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 35/06 comprising a load-carrier moving along a path, e.g. a closed path, and adapted to be engaged by any one of a series of traction elements spaced along the path effecting drive at two or more points spaced along the length of an endless conveyor B65G23/32
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/642 in a horizontal plane
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 54/02 electrostatic, electric, or magnetic
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 11/00 Apparatus for weighing a continuous stream of material during flow; Conveyor belt weighers
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/03 for weighing during motion G01G19/04, G01G19/07 take precedence check weighing of materials dispensed into removable containers G01G15/00; weighing a continuous stream of material during flow G01G11/00; G01G19/02, e.g. G01G19/022, G01G19/045 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41865 characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/42337 Tracking control
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0621 : Item configuration or customization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 : Processing of requisition or of purchase orders

Abstract

A track system includes a primary transport portion and a secondary transport portion along which a plurality of vehicles can be propelled. Each secondary transport portion includes a unit operation station for performing a transformation on a container or the contents therein.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a plurality of containers for holding a fluent material;

a plurality of vehicles for containers, wherein a container is disposed on a respective vehicle to form a container-loaded vehicle, there being a plurality of container-loaded vehicles;

a track system comprising a track on which container-loaded vehicles are propellable, said track comprising;

a primary transport portion that defines a primary path comprised of track that forms a closed loop that is configured to permit at least one container-loaded vehicle to travel in a holding pattern;

at least one secondary transport portion that extends from the primary transport portion and defines a secondary path comprised of track that intersects the primary path at an ingress location and an egress location; and

at least one unit operation station disposed along a secondary transport portion and configured to perform a container treatment operation on at least one container-loaded vehicle, wherein the plurality of container-loaded vehicles are independently routable along the track system to deliver at least some of the containers to the at least one unit operation station for performing a container treatment operation on at least some of said containers.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the ingress location and the egress location are spaced apart on the primary path.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the ingress location and the egress location are at the same location on the primary path.

4. The system of claim 1 further comprising a first ingress track switch at the ingress location and a first egress track switch at the egress location.

5. The system of claim 3 further comprising a single track switch at the ingress and egress location.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein each vehicle comprises a magnet.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the track system comprises:

one or more running surfaces that support the vehicles; and

a plurality of conductive propulsion coils that facilitate routing of the vehicles along the track system along a direction of travel.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein each conductive propulsion coil defines a common axis and comprises a conductor having one or more turns that are disposed about a common axis.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the respective common axes of the plurality of conductive propulsion coils are substantially parallel with one another and are substantially orthogonal to the direction of travel.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the plurality of propulsion coils are disposed beneath the respective magnet of each vehicle; and

the propulsion coils disposed on at least one of the opposing sides of the magnet of a vehicle is configured to exert a propulsive force on the vehicle that facilitates propulsion of the vehicle along the track system.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the propulsion coils on the opposing sides of the magnet of a vehicle exert propulsive forces on the magnet.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the only type of unit operation station disposed along said primary transport portion comprises a fast cycle unit operation station.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the secondary transport portion comprises at least one unit transport segment; and

one of the unit operation stations is disposed along the at least one unit transport segment.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the secondary transport portion comprises a plurality of unit transport segments that further define the secondary path and wherein each unit transport segment defines a segment ingress location and a segment egress location.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the plurality of unit transport segments are arranged in parallel.

16. The system of claim 14 wherein the track system further comprises:

an ingress switch at each of the segment ingress locations; and

an egress switch at each of the segment egress locations.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the track system further comprises a plurality of unit operation stations each disposed at one of the unit transport segments.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of containers comprise a plurality of first containers having a volume and a shape and a plurality of second containers having one or more of a volume and a shape that is different from one or more of a volume and a shape, respectively, of the plurality of first containers.

19. The system of claim 1 wherein one of the unit operation stations comprises a container loading station that is configured to facilitate loading a container onto one of the vehicles.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the unit operation stations comprises a plurality of independently controllable nozzles for dispensing fluent material into the containers.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the plurality of independently controllable nozzles are configured so that at least one first independently controllable nozzle dispenses a fluent material that is different from a fluent material dispensed from at least one second independently controllable nozzle.

22. The system of claim 18 wherein each vehicle is independently routable along the track system to deliver the first and second containers to different unit operation stations;

and at least one first vehicle has associated therewith a route that is different from a route associated with an at least one second vehicle, with each of the at least one first vehicle and the at least one second vehicle executing the associated routes simultaneously.

23. The system of claim 18 wherein each of the vehicles is configured to accommodate one or more of the different shapes and sizes of the first container and the second container.