US 12,134,492 B2
Systems and methods for packaging stacked products
Thomas Dean Graham, Winter Garden, FL (US); Amer Aganovic, Orlando, FL (US); Kirk S. Kempnich, Oviedo, FL (US); Claudio D'Alesio, Windermere, FL (US); and Lonnie Teston, Edgewater, FL (US)
Filed by WESTROCK SHARED SERVICES, LLC, Atlanta, GA (US)
Filed on Oct. 9, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/067,404.
Prior Publication US 2022/0111986 A1, Apr. 14, 2022
Int. Cl. B65B 35/52 (2006.01); B65B 35/54 (2006.01); B65B 41/06 (2006.01)
CPC B65B 35/52 (2013.01) [B65B 35/54 (2013.01); B65B 41/06 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A packaging system comprising:
a plurality of parallel feed conveyors configured to carry a plurality of carton units thereon in a first direction;
a stacking station including a stacking conveyor and a plurality of lifting assemblies, said stacking conveyor configured to carry stacks of carton units in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, each lifting assembly of said plurality of lifting assemblies being selectively moveable over said stacking conveyor and one corresponding feed conveyor of said plurality of parallel feed conveyors; and
a controller communicatively coupled to said stacking conveyor and said plurality of lifting assemblies, said controller configured to:
control a first lifting assembly of said plurality of lifting assemblies to (i) retrieve a first carton unit using a first gripping mechanism of said first lifting assembly, and (ii) vertically lift the first carton unit from a first feed conveyor of said plurality of parallel feed conveyors while the first carton unit is engaged with said first gripping mechanism; and
control said first lifting assembly to (iii) vertically lower the first carton unit while the first carton unit is engaged with said first gripping mechanism, and (iv) deposit the first carton unit, by releasing the first carton unit from the first gripping mechanism, on said stacking conveyor on top of a second carton unit previously deposited on said stacking conveyor in a stacked relationship with the second carton unit, wherein said first gripping mechanism is the same gripping mechanism engaged with the first carton unit during the vertical lifting from the first feed conveyor.