System and method for loading produce trays

Abstract

A system to load trays of produce into a shipping container includes a container positioning mechanism that positions a container in a precise location within the where holes in the bottom of the container are aligned with a plurality of lift rods. The lift rods rise up the container holes to receive a loaded tray of produce onto the top of the lift rods. After receiving the first tray of produce, the lift rods lower slightly so that a second tray of produce may be loaded on top of the first. With each loaded tray of produce, the lift rods retract further until all trays of produce have been received. As the lift rods slowly retract, the trays of produce are gently lowered into the shipping container. The system has a simple mechanism to reposition the container guide assembly and tray feed assembly to accommodate multiple types of shipping containers.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A tray loading system comprising:
 a conveyor mechanism to receive an empty shipping container at an entryway to the loading system;   a detector mechanism configured to detect the arrival of the empty shipping container at a predetermined load position in the loading system and to generate an indicator signal to indicate the arrival of the empty shipping container at the load position;   a stop mechanism to halt progress of the shipping container at the load position in the loading system;   a tray lift assembly positioned beneath the load position and configured to extend a plurality of lift elements through corresponding apertures in a bottom of the shipping container to a predetermined position within the shipping container; and   a tray receiving mechanism positioned above the load position and having a flat member portion, the tray receiving mechanism having a first operational position to receive a loaded tray such that the flat member portion is under the loaded tray and a second operational position wherein the flat member portion is withdrawn from under the loaded tray such that the loaded tray is fully supported by the plurality of lift elements;   wherein the plurality of lift elements are retracted to thereby lower the loaded tray into the shipping container.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the shipping container is a shipping container type selected from a plurality of shipping container types having different dimensions, the system further comprising a controller configured to adjust the tray receiving mechanism to accommodate the selected container type. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the selected container type is a cardboard shipping container having a first set of predetermined dimensions, the controller being configured to adjust the tray receiving mechanism to accommodate trays corresponding to the cardboard shipping container. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3  wherein the stop mechanism comprises first and second stop members, the controller activating the first stop mechanism when the selected container type is a cardboard shipping container. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the selected container type is a rigid plastic container (RPC) shipping container having a second set of predetermined dimensions, the controller being configured to adjust the tray receiving mechanism to accommodate trays corresponding to the RPC shipping container. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the stop mechanism comprises first and second stop members, the controller activating the second stop mechanism when the selected container type is an RPC shipping container. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the selected container type is a European shipping container having a second set of predetermined dimensions, the controller being configured to adjust the tray receiving mechanism to accommodate trays corresponding to the European shipping container. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7  wherein the stop mechanism comprises first and second stop members, the controller activating the second stop mechanism when the selected container type is a European shipping container. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a bottom support plate positioned beneath the load position to support a bottom portion of the shipping container while at the load position. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9  for use with a shipping container having an inner box and an outer lid wherein the bottom support plate is slideably mounted and configured to raise the inner box to a predetermined elevation while at the load position. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the container guide assembly comprises left and right guide members and at least one of the left and right guide members further comprises a detainer edge configured to extend from the guide assembly and engage the outer lid of the shipping container to retain the outer lid in a stationary position while the inner box container is raised to the predetermined elevation. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a container guide assembly configured to adjust the lateral position of the shipping container in response to the generation of the indicator signal from the detector mechanism. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the container guide assembly comprises left and right guide members wherein at least one of the left and right guide members is configured to move horizontally to engage and retain the shipping container at the load position. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the stop member engages a leading side of the shipping container and at least one of the left and right guide members further comprises a retainer tang to extend from the guide member on a trailing side of the shipping container opposite the leading side of the shipping container to engage the trailing edge of the shipping container and retain the shipping container at the load position. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the shipping container is a shipping container type selected from a plurality of shipping container types having different dimensions, the system further comprising a controller configured to adjust the guide assembly to accommodate the plurality of shipping container types. 
     
     
         16 . A tray loading system comprising:
 a detector mechanism configured to detect the arrival of an empty shipping container at a predetermined load position in the system;   a stop mechanism to halt progress of the shipping container at the load position;   a tray lift assembly positioned beneath the load position and configured to extend a plurality of lift elements through corresponding apertures in a bottom of the shipping container to a predetermined position within the shipping container; and   a tray receiving mechanism positioned above the load position and configured to receive a loaded tray and to deposit the loaded tray onto at least a portion of the plurality of lift elements wherein the plurality of lift elements are retracted to thereby lower the loaded tray into the shipping container.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16  wherein the shipping container is a shipping container type selected from a plurality of shipping container types having different dimensions, the system further comprising a controller configured to adjust the tray lift assembly and the tray receiving mechanism to accommodate the selected container type. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17  wherein the shipping container is a shipping container type selected from a plurality of shipping container types comprising a standard shipping container, a European shipping container, and a rigid plastic container. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising a container guide assembly configured to adjust the lateral position of the shipping container to thereby position the empty container at the load position. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the container guide assembly comprises left and right guide members wherein at least one of the left and right guide members is configured to move horizontally to engage and retain the shipping container at the load position. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the shipping container is a shipping container type selected from a plurality of shipping container types having different dimensions, the system further comprising a controller configured to adjust the guide assembly to accommodate the plurality of shipping container types. 
     
     
         22 . A tray loading system comprising:
 a first mode of operation used for a first shipping container type having a first set of dimensions;   a second mode of operation used for a second shipping container type having a second set of dimensions different from the first set of dimensions;   a detector mechanism configured to detect the arrival of an empty shipping container of the first shipping container type at a first predetermined load position in the loading system when operating in the first mode of operation and to detect the arrival of the empty shipping container of the second shipping container type at a second predetermined load position in the loading system when operating in the second mode of operation;   a stop mechanism to halt progress of the shipping container of the first shipping container type at the first load position when operating in the first mode of operation and to halt progress of the shipping container of the second shipping container type at the second load position when operating in the second mode of operation;   a tray lift assembly positioned beneath the load position and configured to extend a plurality of lift elements through corresponding apertures in a bottom of the shipping container to a first predetermined position within the shipping container of the first shipping container type when operating in the first mode of operation and to extend the plurality of lift elements through corresponding apertures in a bottom of the shipping container to a second predetermined position within the shipping container of the second shipping container type when operating in the second mode of operation; and   a tray receiving mechanism positioned above the load position configured to receive a first tray type when operating in the first mode of operation, the tray receiving mechanism being reconfigured to receive a second tray type when operating in the second mode of operation, the tray receiving mechanism being configured to receive a loaded tray and to position the loaded tray over the shipping container, the tray receiving mechanism being configured to retract and thereby deposit the loaded tray onto the plurality of lift elements such that the loaded tray is fully supported by the plurality of lift elements.   
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22  wherein the first shipping container type is a cardboard shipping container having an inner box and an outer lid. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 22  wherein the second shipping container type is a rigid plastic container (RPC) shipping container. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 22 , further comprising a container guide assembly configured to adjust the lateral position of the shipping container of the first shipping container type at the first load position when operating in the first mode of operation and to adjust the lateral position of the shipping container of the second shipping container type at the second load position when operating in the second mode of operation. 
     
     
         26 . A tray loading method comprising:
 positioning an empty shipping container at a load position such that a plurality of apertures in the bottom of the shipping container are positioned above a plurality of lift elements;   raising the plurality of lift elements through the apertures in the bottom of the shipping container to a position near a top of the shipping container;   depositing a loaded tray onto the plurality of lift elements; and   lowering the plurality of lift elements to thereby deposit the loaded tray into the shipping container.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  wherein the plurality of lift elements are lowered partially so that the top of the loaded tray is in the position proximate the top of the shipping container, the method further comprising:
 depositing an additional loaded tray onto the top of the deposited loaded tray; and 
 lowering the plurality of lift elements to thereby deposit the additional loaded tray into the shipping container. 
 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26  wherein the plurality of lift elements are lowered partially so that the top of the loaded tray is in the position near the top of the shipping container, the method further comprising:
 depositing an additional loaded tray onto the top of the deposited loaded tray; 
 lowering the plurality of lift elements to thereby deposit the additional loaded tray into the shipping container; and 
 repeating depositing the additional loaded tray and lowering the plurality of lift elements. 
 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 26  wherein the shipping container is a shipping container type selected from a plurality of shipping container types having different dimensions, the method further comprising adjusting the load position to accommodate the selected container type, and adjusting raising the plurality of lift elements through the apertures in the bottom of the shipping container to a position near a top of the shipping container to accommodate the selected container type. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 26  wherein depositing the loaded tray onto the plurality of lift elements comprises receiving a loaded tray onto a tray feed mechanism such that the tray feed mechanism supports the loaded tray, and moving the tray feed mechanism so that the loaded tray is transferred from the tray feed mechanism onto the plurality of lift elements. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30  wherein the shipping container is a shipping container type selected from a plurality of shipping container types having different dimensions, the method further comprising adjusting the tray feed assembly to accommodate trays corresponding to the selected container type. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 26  wherein positioning the shipping container at the load position comprises adjusting a lateral position of the shipping container with a guide assembly to thereby position the empty container at the load position. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32  wherein the shipping container is a shipping container type selected from a plurality of shipping container types having different dimensions, the method further comprising adjusting the guide assembly to accommodate the dimensions corresponding to the selected container type.