US005 844807A

Ulllted States Patent [19] [11] Patent Number: 5,844,807 Anderson et al. [45] Date of Patent: Dec. 1, 1998

[54] AUTOMATED SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR 5,540,545 7/1996 Roberts et a1. .................... .. 414/792.6 OPTIMIZING AND PALLETIZING ARTICLES

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

[75] Inventors: Wade A- Andersolh Madison; Shayne 3107495 2/1981 Germany ..................... .. B656 57/24 A. Roberts, Phillips; John J. Kondratuk Kennam an of W1S~ Primary ExaminerReba I. Elmore

_ _ _ _ _ _ Assistant ExaminerSteven R. Garland

[73] Asslgnee' Marqulp Inc" Phllhps W15 Attorney, Agent, or FirmAndrus, Sceales, Starke & SaWall

[21] Appl. No.: 556,207 [57] ABSTRACT

[22] Filed: Nov. 9, 1995 6 A method and apparatus is disclosed for optimizing an

[51] Int. Cl. .................................................... .. G06F 17/00 arrangement of articles, Such as Stacks ofpaperboard Sheets, [52] U.S. C]. ................................ .. 364/478.05; 414/7926; into horizontal tiers, then stacking the horizontal tiers one on

414/7896; 414/7918; 414/902 top another to form a rectangular-shaped unit, Wherein the [58] Field of Search ....................... .. 364/47802, 478.05, rectangular shaped unit has base dimensions substantially

364/478.06; 414/7926, 789.6, 789.9, 789.8, equal to a selected standard pallet-type. The system includes 789.5, 791.6, 791.8, 799, 786, 902, 794.7, a computer programmed to receive the base siZe of an

907 article, the total number of articles desired, and a selected pallet type. The computer is connected to a palletiZer for

[561 References Cited building the actual unit of articles consistent With an opti U S PATENT DOCUMENTS miZed unit con?guration. The palletiZer has a tier forming

' ' station in Which tiers of articles are formed according to the

2,699,264 1/1955 Bruce et al. ....................... .. 414/7889 selected tier con?guration, and a transfer device for moving 2,997,187 8/ 1961 Burt -: --------- - 198/412 the formed tiers into a stack forming station Wherein the tiers 472557074 3/1981 Meram et a1 414/62 are sequentially deposited. The system can add spacing 473527616 10/1982 Bree? ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' " 414/31 between selected articles in a tier, and stack the tiers such

4641271 2/1987 Komshl et a1 " " 364/47805 that the s aces in ad'oinin tiers are not ali ned 5,050,090 9/1991 Golub et a1. .. 364/478.05 p 1 g g ' 5,139,388 8/1992 Martin ........ .. 414/799

5,372,472 12/1994 Winski et a1. ........................ .. 414/786 15 Claims, 19 Drawing Sheets

132 \

- - -|-|T TT-l- - -

-. _ _| _ _ - - I- - _

_ l- - - __ .. _| _ _

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- Ill - - |-|-| - -

- -I-ll- - -ll-l -

/134 136(3) 136(b) 136(8) -

136(b) ' 188

136(a) - / [190 136(0)

_ / ADD TIE SHEET REMOVE TIER 136(a)

/ 138'\ / 196\ 198 TIERS

164 A TOTAL ITEMS 11400 /205 194 186 194 -V-| TOTAL ARTICLES 150 OK

/ \ TOTAL HEIGHT 46.28 208 4 PRINT l> TOTAL WE|GHT|2021.84I CANCEL

/ f I

202 200

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 1 0f 19 5,844,807

r.

FIG. 1

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 2 0f 19 5,844,807

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 3 0f 19 5,844,807

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440 n

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 5 0f 19 5,844,807

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 6 0f 19 5,844,807

6 l

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 7 0f 19 5,844,807

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 8 0f 19 5,844,807

4.: , 12>

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 11 0f 19 5,844,807

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 12 0f 19 5,844,807

HG. 19((1) 140\

142% ADD TIER

178A REMOVE TlER

| l l | l | l l l I l I l I I l l l

180 COPY TIER 136(a) 136(b)

144 EDIT TIER

184 A CANCEL

148 A OK

150 A CANCEL

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 13 0f 19 5,844,807

4 _/ 1 \

IL

E 6

% pNU/\U A

w G

8 1

w /m m m / > N m w

3

6 A v 1 R N w m \m 4 6\4 m\ 1

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218

U.S. Patent

FIG. 22

228

230 I \ ENTER ORDER

DATA

232 I \ SELECT PALLET

TYPE

234 I

Dec. 1, 1998

GENERATE THE POSSIBLE TIER

CONFIGURATIONS

236 I F; D DISPLAY AVAILABLE

TIER CONFIGURATIONS

238 I \D SELECT DESIRED

TIER CONFIGURATIONS

240 I \'\ ADD, REMOVE, COPY

AND /OR EDIT TIERS SELECTED

I I \\ ADD A TIER TO

PALLET TO FORM UNIT

244 DISPLAY

Sheet 14 0f 19

UNIT

_, COMPLETE UNIT FORMED

7

248 D DISPLAY WHOLE

UNIT

250 252

UNIT OK To BUILD

?

254 Y 256 A SAvE ORDER

TO DISK /MEMORY

258 I \~ BEGIN BUILDING

uNITS

5,844,807

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 15 0f 19 5,844,807

234 /

FIG. 23(6) START GENERATING THE POSSIBLE TIER

26o CONFIGURATIONS

262 \/\ INITIALIZE UNIT PARAMETERS

(IE. NUMBER OF TIERS GENERATED, NUMBER OF ROWS TO ROTATE,

MAX. ROWS PER TIER)

264 I \m SET THE MAX. NUMBER

OF TIERS= (PALLET WIDTH /ARTICLE WIDTH)+1

266 I STAR? INITIALIZE TIER PARAMETERS

GENERATING (IE. TOTAL WIDTH OF TIER, A TIER NUMBER OF ROWS PER TIER)

268 I START GENERATING

THE ROTATED ROWS INITIALIZE ROTATED ROW IN THE CURRENT TIER COUNT PARAMETER

270 297W GENERATE ANOTHER

ROTATED ROW ?

296

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 16 0f 19 5,844,807

297 E 2 1 FIG. 23(b)

BEGIN GENERATING F 79 UNROTATED ROWS

DOES ANOTHER

UNROTATED ROW FIT

308

GENERATE LABEL ROW

UNROTATED " ,, Rows AS UNROTATED

310 I . \/\ INCREMENT ROW

COUNT PARAMETER

312 I \l\ NUMBER OF ROWS

314 PER TIER INCREMENT

\\ I SEI' NUMBER OF ARTICLES IN

THIS ROW=(PALLEI' LENGTH-EDGE GAP*2)/ ARTICLE WIDTH

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 17 0f 19 5,844,807

G H

FIG. 23(6)

31\6'\ SET TOTAL WIDTH=TOTAL

318 WIDTH +ART|CLE LENGTH

SET GAP S|ZE=(PALLET LENGTH-EDGE GAP*2)(NUMBER OF ARTICLES IN

THIs ROW*ART|CLE WIDTH) 322

320 Y PLACE THE GAP

BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND ARTICLES IN THIS ROW

N

N328 325

324

DONE WITH THIS ROW

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 18 0f 19 5,844,807

A 272 B C

274

DOES ANOTHER ROTATED ROW

FIT

278 GENERATE \\ ROTATED ,, n

Rows LABEL ROW AS ROTATED

28L INCREMENT ROW COUNT PARAMETER

FIG. 23(d)

\A INCREMENT NUMBER OF V\ ROWS PER TIER

I 284 SET NUMBER OF ARTICLES

IN THIS Row= (PALLET LENGTH-EDGE

GAP*2)/ART|CLE LENGTH

286 I \A SET TOTAL WIDTH=TOTAL

288 WIDTH+ARTICLE WIDTH

\\ I SET GAP SIZE=(PALLET LENGTH-EDGE GAP*2)(NUMBER OF ARTICLES IN THIS

ROW*ARTICLE LENGTH)

292 \\ PLACE THE GAP BETWEEN

FIRST AND SECOND ARTICLES IN THIS ROW

DONE WITH THIS ROW ___J

IS GAP SIZE>O

U.S. Patent Dec. 1,1998 Sheet 19 0f 19 5,844,807

FIG. 23(6) D

330

I \ 306

_] QT 332 SET EDGE OFFSET FOR 352

\\ THIS TIER= \A (PALLET WIDTH TOTAL WIDTH)/ 2

334 I \/\ INCREMENT NUMBER OF

ROWS TO ROTATE INCREMENT NUMBER OF

TIERS GENERATED

336 _

GENERATED THE DESIRED MAXIMUM NUMBER OF TIERS

?

ARE THE ARTICLES SQUARE

?

338

\\ SORT THE TIERS GENERATED BY NUMBER OF ARTICLES

IN EACH TIER

348 I \/\ RANK THE SORTED TIERS BY

MOST ARTICLES PER TIER