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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- - - __ .. _| _ _
- |-|- - - - - - l-l -
- 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
w w M _ _ _ _ _ _
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m _ _ \
/ _ _ _ \_\
All
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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
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