IP Library Granted Patent US 12673426
Granted Patent B2
US 12673426 · App. 18/878,199 · Granted Jul 7, 2026

Palletisation facility

Inventor: Laurent Ferre (Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre, FR)
Assignee: SIDEL PARTICIPATIONS
B25J9/1687B25J9/1674B65G61/00
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12673426
App. No.
18/878,199
Granted
Jul 7, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Described is a facility for palletising products and a method for palletising products. The facility has a pick area for picking up the products, and two place areas for placing products on pallets. The facility includes a work station situated between the two place areas and the facility includes a separating wall that moves between a first position between the work station and the first place area, and a second position between the work station and the second place area, so as to alternately separate one of the two place areas from the work station.

Claims (21)

1 . A facility for palletizing products, said facility comprising:

a picking zone for picking said products; two depositing zones for depositing products on pallets; and

a workstation;

wherein the workstation is located between the two depositing zones, and

wherein the facility further comprises a separating wall that is moveable between at least two positions: a first position between said workstation and the first depositing zone and a second position between said workstation and the second depositing zone, so as to alternately separate one of the two depositing zones from said workstation,

wherein the workstation comprises:

a robot provided with gripping means, said gripping means picking the products from said picking zone and discharging them into one of the two depositing zones;

a structure having a lower face, an upper face and two side faces, the robot being fastened directly or indirectly to said structure and the separating wall being movable along said structure, wherein the structure is configured to receive the robot in a folded position and comprises guide rails for the separating wall, said rails extending over the upper face of said structure above the robot and along the side faces so that, when said robot is in the folded position, said separating wall can be moved along said rails between the first position and the second position; and

wherein the facility further comprises a detection means for determining a filling level of a pallet and triggering folding of the robot into the structure and movement of the separating wall from one position to another.

2 . The facility as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the facility comprises an enclosure surrounding the picking zone, the workstation and the depositing zones, wherein said enclosure comprises an entrance for each depositing zone and an opening for supplying the picking zone.

3 . The facility as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising safety sensors which detect a presence of the separating wall in the first position and in the second position.

4 . The facility as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the separating wall is a curtain.

5 . The facility as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the curtain comprises slats.

6 . The facility as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the curtain comprises at least one transparent slat.

7 . A palletizing method for a facility having a picking zone and two depositing zones, said method comprising the following steps:

first picking products to be palletized from a picking zone, executed by a workstation, then unloading said products onto a pallet,

wherein the method further comprises a step of moving a separating wall from a first depositing zone when a first pallet located in said first zone reaches a predetermined filling level, to enable products to be deposited on a second pallet located in a second depositing zone,

wherein the step of picking and unloading the products is carried out using gripping means of a robot of said workstation, the robot being fastened directly or indirectly to a structure and the separating wall being movable along said structure, wherein the structure is configured to receive the robot in a folded position and comprises guide rails for the separating wall, said rails extending over an upper face of said structure above the robot and along side faces of said structure;

the method further comprising moving the separating wall along said rails between a first position between said workstation and the first depositing zone and a second position between said workstation and the second depositing zone when the robot is in the folded position; and

determining a filling level of a pallet and triggering folding of the robot into the structure and movement of the separating wall from the first position to the second position and vice versa.

8 . The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the palletization in the second zone only starts once a signal relating to a correct positioning of the separating wall has been triggered.