Method and apparatus for debanding a compressible bundle

Abstract

A method and apparatus for debanding a compressible bundle. The apparatus includes an End of Arm Tooling (EAT) component which is moved vertically downward over the bundle to a position where holding arms of the EAT component are manipulated to pick up and hold the bundle. At this position, one or more indenters of the EAT component are pressed into an upper surface of the bundle form a trough in the bundle that crosses under a band which surrounds the bundle. A cutting knife assembly of the EAT component is actuated to slide linearly along a longitudinal direction of the trough to cut the band without contacting the surface of the bundle, thereby enabling the band to drop away from the bundle. As a result, the bundle can be debanded without damaging the bags.

1 . A method of operating an apparatus to cut a band that surrounds a compressible bundle, the method including the steps of:
 driving one or more indenters of the apparatus into an outer surface of the compressible bundle, thereby depressing the surface of the compressible bundle in a direction orthogonal to the surface to form a trough, the trough crossing underneath a portion of the band;   moving a cutting knife of the apparatus along a longitudinal direction of the trough toward the band; and   cutting the band with the cutting knife to deband the compressible bundle, wherein:   a blade portion of the cutting knife extends at least partially into the trough in the orthogonal direction without contacting the surface of the bundle as it moves along the longitudinal direction.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the compressible bundle comprises a plurality of bags. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein each one of the plurality of bags comprises a material selected from the group consisting of plastics, paper, woven fabrics and non-woven fabrics. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the band is selected from the group consisting of paper bands, rubber bands, elastic bands and polyethylene bands. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
 moving a plurality of holding arms of the apparatus to contact the compressible bundle, the holding arms being configured to hold the bundle in a stationary position.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, after the cutting step, the method further comprises the steps of:
 moving the cutting knife to a rest position; and   retracting the indenter from the compressible bundle.   
     
     
         7 . An apparatus for cutting a band that surrounds a compressible bundle, the apparatus comprising:
 a holding unit including a plurality of holding arms movable to hold and to release the compressible bundle;   one or more indenters for depressing a portion of an outer surface of the compressible bundle to form a trough that underlies a portion of the band; and   a cutting unit including:
 a cutting knife configured to extend at least partially within the trough; and 
 an actuating unit which is configured to move the cutting blade along a longitudinal direction of the trough, without contacting the cutting blade against the outer surface of the compressible bundle. 
   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the compressible bundle comprises a plurality of bags. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein each one of the plurality of bags comprises a material selected from the group consisting of plastics, paper, woven fabrics and non-woven fabrics. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the band is selected from the group consisting of paper bands, rubber bands, elastic bands and polyethylene bands. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein each of the holding unit, the one or more indenters and the cutting unit are affixed to a common framework. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the cutting knife further comprises:
 a cutting blade; and   a shoe, the shoe being positioned along a base portion of the cutting knife and configured for receiving and positioning the band for cutting by the cutting blade.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein:
 the actuating unit comprises a track actuator configured to move the cutting knife bi-directionally along the longitudinal direction;   the cutting blade includes cutting surfaces along each of opposing ends of the cutting blade; and   the shoe extends beyond each one of the cutting surfaces.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the holding unit further comprises:
 a plurality of actuating assemblies configured to move the plurality of holding arms.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the holding arms are movable within a plane that is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the trough. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the apparatus further comprises a pusher for pushing the compressible bundle away from the indenters. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the holding unit includes four actuating assemblies and four holding arms. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the actuating unit which is configured to move the cutting blade from a rest position laterally displaced from one of the one or more indenters through an interior cavity of the one indenter and along the longitudinal direction of the trough. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a debanding conveyor configured for moving the compressible bundle from a bundle receiving position to a bundle debanding position in proximity to the holding unit, the debanding conveyor including a plurality of conveyor belts configured to be driven synchronously with one another along parallel linear directions, wherein   adjacent ones of the plurality of conveyor belts are spaced apart to form open separation slots, the separation slots being configured to enable unencumbered movement of the holding arms when the holding arms are positioned in proximity to the debanding conveyor and moved to hold the bundle.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein at least one of the plurality of conveyor belts includes a plurality of dividers sequentially positioned along the one belt, successive ones of the plurality of dividers being separated by a predetermined distance. 
     
     
         21 . A method of operating an apparatus to cut a band that surrounds a compressible bundle, the method including the steps of:
 providing the compressible bundle to a debanding conveyor;   moving the compressible bundle via the first debanding conveyor line to a debanding position;   positioning the apparatus in proximity to the compressible bundle at the debanding position;   moving a plurality of holding arms of the apparatus to contact and hold the compressible bundle at the debanding position;   driving one or more indenters of the apparatus into an outer surface of the compressible bundle, thereby depressing the surface of the compressible bundle in a direction orthogonal to the surface to form a trough crossing underneath a portion of the band;   moving a cutting knife of the apparatus along a longitudinal direction of the trough toward the band, such that a blade portion of the cutting knife extends at least partially into the trough in the orthogonal direction without contacting the surface of the bundle;   cutting the band with the cutting knife to deband the compressible bundle;   moving the apparatus and the debanded bundle from the debanding position to a release position; and   moving the plurality of holding arms of the apparatus to release the debanded bundle.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the compressible bundle comprises a plurality of bags. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein each one of the plurality of bags comprises a material selected from the group consisting of plastics, paper, woven fabrics and non-woven fabrics. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the band is selected from the group consisting of paper bands, rubber bands, elastic bands and polyethylene bands. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the providing step further comprises the steps of:
 sorting a plurality of compressible bundles in a hopper;   delivering at least one of the sorted bundles to an accumulator conveyor; and   releasing the at least one sorted bundle by the accumulator conveyor to provide the compressible bundle to the debanding conveyor.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising the step of:
 moving the cutting knife to a rest position laterally displaced from the trough after the cutting step.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the debanded bundle is released onto an outflow conveyor. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the outflow conveyor is a bucket conveyor and the debanded bundle is released into a bucket on the bucket conveyor. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the step of moving the plurality of holding arms of the apparatus to release the debanded bundle further comprises the step of:
 pushing the debanded bundle from the apparatus into the bucket on the bucket conveyor.