US 12,012,293 B1
Systems and processes for selecting and packing articles
Gerald Little, Kansas City, MO (US); Robert F. McAnany, Kansas City, MO (US); and Jalyn C. Stanley, Kansas City, MO (US)
Assigned to Hallmark Cards, Incorporated, Kansas City, MO (US)
Filed by Hallmark Cards, Incorporated, Kansas City, MO (US)
Filed on Aug. 20, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/998,360.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/889,294, filed on Aug. 20, 2019.
Int. Cl. B65B 43/46 (2006.01); B25J 15/00 (2006.01); B25J 15/06 (2006.01); B65B 35/18 (2006.01); B65G 1/10 (2006.01); B65G 47/90 (2006.01); B65G 47/91 (2006.01)
CPC B65G 47/918 (2013.01) [B25J 15/0028 (2013.01); B25J 15/0616 (2013.01); B65B 35/18 (2013.01); B65G 1/10 (2013.01); B65G 47/907 (2013.01); B65G 2203/0233 (2013.01)] 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for selecting and packing articles, the system comprising:
a multi-axis movement mechanism;
an article picking device coupled to said multi-axis movement mechanism, wherein the article picking device includes a first gripping mechanism,
wherein the first gripping mechanism includes (1) a first gripping member that includes a first planar surface and a first face orthogonal to said first planar surface and (2) a second gripping member that includes a second planar surface and a second face that is orthogonal to said second planar surface,
wherein the first and second faces are spaced apart such that there is a first gap of no more than two inches between said first and second faces when the first gripping mechanism is in an open configuration, but the first gap is closed when the first gripping mechanism is in a closed configuration;
wherein the first and second planar surfaces are coplanar when said gripping mechanism is in the open configuration and when gripping mechanism is in the closed configuration; and
a storage system that includes a first cartridge that is adapted to hold a first article and a plurality of second articles, wherein the article picking device is adapted to retrieve the first article from the first cartridge via the multi-axis movement mechanism by utilizing the first gripping mechanism to grasp a wrapping of the first article when the first gripping mechanism is in the closed configuration, wherein the wrapping is physically separate from the first article.