WO2014058292A1

WO2014058292A1 - Stacking system for assymmetric objects

Info

Publication number: WO2014058292A1
Application number: PCT/MY2012/000263
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kuan K. H.; Joon Shiou How
Original assignee: Sentinel Engineering (M) Sdn. Bhd.
Priority date: 2012-10-12
Filing date: 2012-10-12
Publication date: 2014-04-17
Also published as: IN2013MN01804A; CN103917467B; BR112013024699B1; CN103917467A; BR112013024699A2

Abstract

A system for stacking or arranging any asymmetric subject of manufacture having a distinguishable front end and a rear end such as a glove. More particularly, a stacking or arranging system and methods enabling bidirectional stacking or arranging one over the other for packing or like purposes of such asymmetric subject of manufacture having a distinguishable front end and a rear end such as a glove. The system for such bidirectional stacking or arranging basically involving a feeder conveyor unit having a pair of feeder conveyer (2,3) disposed below a manufacture process conveyer (1) which can be used for stacking different asymmetric packing elements/subjects such as gloves having distinguishing front and rear end over collecting member/shelf (10,12) in bidirectional manner. Optionally and advantageously, the proposed stacking apparatus includes a sensor driven oscillating means operatively connected with the feeder conveyer pair for driving the feeder conveyer in pendulum type motion and to facilitate the bidirectional stacking of the packing element over a collecting member/ shelf. The advancement is thus directed to provide for an automatized system for bidirectional stacking of asymmetric packing elements/subjects such as gloves to ensure optimized arrangement of the stocks for packing and the like and an even distribution of the weight of the stacked subjects such as when packed in a carton and the like.

Description

STACKING SYSTEM FOR ASSYMMETRIC OBJECTS

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system forl q bidirectional stacking or arranging of asymmetric subjects having a distinguishable front end and a rear end such as a glove having a distinctly different front finger region and a rear cuff region.The system for stacking or arranging of any subject of manufacture is directed to favour in packing of such subjects and, in particular, to advancements in stacking in bidirectional manner for the purposes of packing subjects like gloves in which front end is different from the rear end in terms of size and weight to achieve a compact stacking of such packing elements and to ensure minimum packing volume requirement with an even distribution of the weight through out the packing carton. The system for stacking or arranging any asymmetric subject of manufacture having a distinguishable front end and a rear end such as a glove is adapted for on-line cooperative installation with any conveyor carrying the subject of manufacture for the purposes of efficient packing of the same maintaining a desired bidirectional stacking. Advantageoulsy, the bidirectional stacking or packing of subjects involving the proposed system would be completely automatic and would not require any human intervention for packing which is particularly beneficial in case of packing of sensitive commodities like medical gloves as the automated system would ensure the hygienic environment and minimize the chance of infection from any harmful micro-organism during stacking/packing of the commodity.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION In the packing industry, the size of packing carton is an important issue owing to need to minimize the packing space including the even distribution of the weight through out the packing carton to facilitate the handling and transportation of packing cartons. The issue of such packing is particularly more important for the asymmetric packing subjects like gloves in which front end is different from the rear end in terms of size and weight. Take for instance the packing of gloves; if the finger or cuff region is stacked on one side of the gloves, then the weight of the carton would not be evenly distributed as the side holding the finger region would be thicker and heavier than the region holding the cuff portion. Thus, bidirectional stacking is required for such non-uniform packing elements.

Traditionally, in some packing industry wherein such asymmetric packing subjects are packed in a carton box, bidirectional stacking is done manually. However, in case of large scale packing or in case of industrial application, this manual stacking is inappropriate as it is time consuming and relatively expensive.

Most importantly, in packing elements like gloves which are commonly used for medical purposes in hospital and clinics, automated stacking is preferred and a requisite rather than manual stacking as human involvement in the stacking of gloves can increase the chance of the subject getting contaminated such as infection by micro organism.

US 4,712,787 discloses an automatic stacking machine. The machine is designed to stack pieces of cloth, prior to the use of the cloth in the construction of garments. A conveyor, having a plurality of bands, transports the cloth pieces to a horizontally reciprocal carriage that reciprocates from a position under the conveyor. Located below the reciprocal carriage, when it is in its extended position, is an elevator table upon which the cloth pieces are deposited and stacked. A plurality of wheels, mounted above the retractable carriage, in its extended position, turn in the direction of outward movement of the carriage. When the carriage changes direction and begins to retract, the wheels, which only move in one direction, pull the fabric off the retractable carriage and the cloth drops neatly down on the table below.

As per the US' 787, in normal stacking operation the table associated with the reciprocate carriage is adaptable to forward and backward motion wherein the cloth piece is deposited over table during the forward motion and during the backward motion of the table the same cloth piece is finally stacked over the stationary stacking table positioned below the carriage as the carriage move out to its extended position. Thus the stacking system is capable to stack only one cloth piece in a complete cycle which leads to a unidirectional stacking arrangement.

WO 2010020782 relates to a glove packing apparatus for packing gloves into a box, and to a method of packing gloves into a box, particularly to the packing of disposable medical gloves. There is discussed a glove packing apparatus for packing gloves into a box comprises a receptacle for forming a stack of gloves to be packed, the receptacle having a perimeter wall for containing a stack of gloves, a floor within the perimeter wall for supporting the stack of gloves, and an opening opposite the floor into which additional gloves may be added to during stacking of gloves. The floor is movable relative to the perimeter wall so that, in use, the floor may be moved relatively away from the receptacle opening so that as gloves are added to said stack of gloves, the perimeter wall continues to contain the stack of gloves. The floor may then be moved relatively towards the opening to remove the stack of gloves from the receptacle. The apparatus for packing for gloves as described in WO 2010020782 is adapted to transfer stack of gloves inside the packing carton/box wherein the formation of the stacked layer of the gloves is done by manually or automatically. Thus in effect the device cannot be a fully automatized system for packing and more importantly does not take care of any required bidirectional stacking favouring uniformity in packing of asymmetric packing elements.

WO 201 1/048414 A1 is directed to a glove stacking apparatus for preparing a stack of gloves prior to packing into a box, and to a method of stacking gloves using a glove stacking apparatus for preparing a stack of gloves prior to packing into a box, particularly ambidextrous disposable hygienic gloves. A glove stacking apparatus for lifting and depositing gloves to be stacked comprises a lifting means for lifting each of said gloves. The lifting means includes an attractive glove lifting surface, wherein the lifting means includes within the lifting surface a movable member, the movable member being movable from a first position in which the movable member is substantially flush with the lifting surface to a second position in which the movable member stands proud of the lifting surface in order to help dislodge said lifted glove from the lifting surface. The movable member has a surface that is permeable to air flow through said surface, the glove lifting means including a source of positive air pressure and means to control the application of said positive air pressure through said permeable surface of the movable member in order to control the dislodging of said lifted glove from the glove lifting surface.

WO 201 1/048417 A1 is directed to a glove stacking apparatus for preparing a stack of gloves prior to packing into a box, and to a method of stacking gloves, particularly ambidextrous disposable hygienic gloves, preferably with the thumbs of each glove in a desired orientation with respect to each other. A glove stacking apparatus for forming a stack of gloves comprises a packing recess for receiving said gloves to be stacked, and adjacent the recess at least one movable flap for folding towards the recess a portion of a glove overlapping said edge of the recess. The movable flap has a surface that is permeable to gaseous flow through the surface, and the glove stacking apparatus including a source of vacuum pressure and means to apply said vacuum air pressure through the permeable surface of the movable flap in order to pull the overlapping portion of said glove to the flap prior to folding of said overlapping portion. The source of vacuum pressure is separate from the flap so that as the flap folds towards the recess, the application of the vacuum air pressure through the permeable surface is automatically released.

The above WO 201 1/048414 A1 , WO 201 1/048417 A1 and WO 2010/024660 provide a similar glove stacking apparatuses for preparing a stack of gloves prior to packing into a box. The glove stacking apparatus described therein are particularly adapted to stack ambidextrous disposable hygienic gloves with a stacking arrangement such that thumbs of each glove is in a desired orientation with respect to each other more, specifically gloves are stacked in unidirectional manner. In addition to that the stacking apparatus requires worker involvement during feeding operation which is time consuming and relatively expensive in industrial production environment.

It would be clearly apparent from the above state of the art that the presently available systems for stacking are basically directed to stack clothes or gloves in unidirectional manner which is not always desired and found appropriate especially where compact packing is required and there has been, thus, a continuing need in the art for developing automated packing apparatus for stacking asymmetric packing elements like gloves in bidirectional fashion. This is particularly so for packing of subjects that require the elimination of the problems associated with hygiene or chance infection by harmful micro-organisms due to human involvement in manual stacking system such as in the case of packing of medical gloves and the like. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the basic aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for automatised bidirectional stacking or arranging of any stackable, one above the other, subject of manufacture, having a distinguishing front end and a rear end, in a collecting member/shelf comprising of:

a manufacture process conveyer carrying the finished subject of manufacture one after the other; a feeder conveyer unit adapted for pendulum type swinging to and fro movement downwardly disposed with respect to the edge of the said manufacture process conveyor such that the subjects from the process conveyer are continuously fed at the feed end of said feeder conveyor unit one after the other; whereby the subjects are laid out on a collecting member/shelf such that the pendulum type swinging motion of the feeder conveyor unit from a first end of the collecting member/shelf to its other second end enables laying of the subject from either its front end at the first end of the collecting member/shelf to the second end of the collecting member/shelf at its other second end and during the return movement of the feeder conveyor unit from the front end of the subsequent subject exiting the feeder conveyor at the second end of said collecting member/shelf to its rear end of said subject disposed at the first end of the collecting member/shelf if the subjects exit the feeder conveyor unit with its front end first or vice-versa when the subject exits from the feeder conveyor with its rear end first. Optionally, a sensor means is provided which is adapted to sense the presence of an exiting subject at the exit/bottom end of said feed conveyor unit and activate the pendulum type swinging motion of the feeder conveyer unit. The initiation of the pendulum type swinging motion of the feeder conveyor unit effected by the presence of the sensor means, enables the laying of the subject of manufacture in an orderly manner whereby the front end of the subject and the bottom end of the subject are stacked above the bottom end and front end of the subject previously disposed on the collecting member/shelf.

The travel speed of the manufacture process conveyor, the speed of rotation of the feeder conveyor unit and the speed of arcuate movement of the feeder conveyor unit are coordinated in a manner such that the subject matter is received by the feeder conveyor unit and deposited on the collecting member/shelf at a uniform rate. Factors such as the vertical distance of the collecting member/shelf from the exit end of the feeder conveyor unit is easily adjusted taking into account the length of the subject matter to be arranged in the bidirectional manner. The feeder conveyor belts in the feeder conveyor unit are arranged in a wedge shaped position to enable the subject matter such as a glove to be compressed by lateral pressure so as to expel air contained within the subject matter to enable compact packing later in the packing process. According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a system for stacking or arranging gloves having a front end comprising of a finger region and a rear end comprising a cuff region one by one in a bidirectional manner comprising of: a glove manufacturing process conveyer carrying the finished gloves one after the other; a feeder conveyer unit adapted for pendulum type swinging to and fro movement downwardly disposed with respect to the edge of the process conveyor such that the gloves from the process conveyer are continuously fed through said feeder conveyor one after the other; whereby the gloves are laid out on a collecting member/shelf such that the pendulum type swing motion of the feeder conveyor from a first end of the collecting member to its other second end enables laying of the glove from either the finger region at the first end to cuff region at its other second end and during the return movement of the feeder conveyor unit from the finger region of the subsequent glove exiting the feeder conveyor at the second end of said collecting member/shelf to cuff region at the first end of the collecting member/shelf if the gloves exit the feeder conveyor unit with its finger region first or vice-versa when the glove exits from the feeder conveyor with its cuff region first.

Optionally, a sensor means is provided which is adapted to sense the presence of an exiting glove at the exit/bottom end of said feed conveyor and activate the pendulum type swinging motion of the feeder conveyer unit .

The initiation of the pendulum type swinging motion of the feeder conveyor unit effected by the presence of the sensor means, enables the laying of the gloves in an orderly manner whereby the cuff region of the glove and the finger region of the glove are stacked above the finger region and the cuff region of the glove previously disposed on the collecting member/shelf.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention said feeder conveyor unit comprises a feeder conveyor pair adapted for said pendulum like motion together which is disposed in wedge shaped disposition with respect to the manufacturing process conveyor. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the conveyor belts of the pair of feeder conveyor unit rotate in a clockwise and anti-clockwise direction such that any rigid matter introduced at entry end is urged towards the exit end of the feeder conveyor unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, said pair of rotating feeder coveyor is positioned adjacent and below the end of said manufacturing process conveyor such that the gloves reaching the terminal end of the conveyor belt is readily dropped by gravity or introduced into the entry end of the feeder conveyor.

According to yet another preferred aspect of the present invention, the feeder conveyor unit comprising said pair of conveyors are coupled together and adapted to swing simultaneously in said pendulum -like motion.

According to yet another preferred aspect of the present invention, said sensor means comprise a through beam light sensor which is positioned either at the entry point or exit point of the feeder conveyor unit.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention the said light sensor is adapted to detect the presence of gloves either at the entry point or exit point and hence to initiate the pendulum like motion of the feeder conveyer. According to another aspect of the system for stacking or arranging gloves one by one in a bidirectional manner according to the invention the same comprises provision of two or more of the collecting members/ shelf disposed thereunder said feeder conveyor such that as soon as the shelf just underneath the feeder conveyor being loaded is full to the desired extent the same is shifted for subsequent packing/off-loading while a following collecting member/shelf is positioned below the rotating feeder conveyer for subsequent stacking/loading thereon.

According to yet another aspect of the system for stacking or arranging gloves one by one in a bidirectional according to the invention the said shifting of the collecting members/shelves post stacking/loading thereof is automatised involving a sensor means provided for such monitoring of the stacked full condition of the collecting member/ shelf for activating the required shifting of the collecting members/shelves for each filling/stacking.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for stacking or arranging subjects/gloves in bidirectional fashion involving the apparatus as claimed in claim2 comprising; transporting the finished gloves via manufacturing process conveyer belt to said feeder conveyer unit involving a pair of conveyors at its entry /receiving end whereby the gloves are gravitationally dropped or introduced into the feed /receiving end of the feeder conveyer unit; rotating the pair of rotating conveyer belts of the feeder conveyer unit to rotate in opposite direction to thereby force the received gloves towards its exit /bottom end; detecting the presence of the subjects in the exit/bottom end of the feeder conveyer unit by means of the sensor fitted in below the feeder conveyor unit; initiating the pendulum type motion of the feeder conveyor after detecting the presence of the subjects in the exit/bottom end of the feeder conveyer; laying the subjects in the collecting member/shelf one after the other such that the pendulum type motion of the feeder conveyor from a first end of the collecting member/shelf to its other second end enables laying of the subject /glove from either the front/glove finger region at the first end to rear/ glove cuff region at its other second end and during the return movement of the feeder conveyor unit from the front/ glove finger region of the subsequent glove exiting the feeder conveyor at the second end of said collecting member/shelf to its rear/ glove cuff region at the first end if the subjects exit the feeder conveyor unit with its front/ glove finger region first or vice-versa when the subject exits from the feeder conveyor with its rear/glove cuff region first. It is thus possible by way of the above disclosed system for automatised stacking or arranging free of any required human intervention any asymmetric subject of manufacture having a distinguishable front end and a rear end such as a glove , more particularly, an automatised stacking or arranging system and methods enabling bidirectional stacking or arranging one over the other for packing or like purposes of such asymmetric subject of manufacture having a distinguishable front end and a rear end such as a glove. The automatised system for such bidirectional stacking or arranging basically can be used for stacking variety of asymmetric packing elements/subjects such as gloves having distinguishing front and rear end over collecting member/shelf in bidirectional manner. Optionally and advantageously, the proposed stacking apparatus including sensor driven oscillating means operatively connected with the feeder conveyer pair for driving the feeder conveyer in pendulum type motion facilitate the automatised bidirectional stacking of the packing element over a collecting member/ shelf. The advancement is thus directed to provide for an automatized system for bidirectional stacking of asymmetric packing elements/subjects such as gloves to ensure optimized arrangement of the stocks for packing and the like and an even distribution of the weight of the stacked subjects/gloves such as when packed in a carton and the like . The basic object of the present invention is to provide a fully automatised system for stacking or arranging any packing subject having a distinguishing front end and a rear end one by one in a collecting member/shelf in bidirectional manner. A further object of the invention is to provide an automatised system for stacking or arranging gloves one by one in a collecting member/shelf in bidirectional manner free of any required manual handling of the gloves thereby eliminating of the problems associated with hygiene or chance infecting by harmful microorganism due to human involvement in manual stacking system such as in case of packing of medical gloves and the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for stacking or arranging any subject of manufacture having a distinguishing front end and a rear end one by one in a collecting member/shelf in a bidirectional manner that would be adapted to be installed in cooperative working association with any packing subject such as a glove manufacturing process conveyer belt such that the subjects from the process conveyer are automatically and continuously fed into said stacking system for the bidirectional packing.

The details of the invention, its objects and advantages are explained hereunder in greater detail in relation to the following non-limiting exemplary illustrations of the system for stacking or arranging any subject of manufacture having a distinguishing front end and a rear end one by one in a collecting member/shelf in a bidirectional manner of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 (a), (b): are the illustrations of schematic arrangement of a preferred embodiment of bidirectional gloves stacking system in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2(a), (b): are the cross sectional view during the stacking of gloves in bidirectional arrangement involving an exemplary embodiment of the said bidirectional gloves stacking system according to the present invention;

Figure 3: is the schematic representation of bi-directionally stacked gloves; Figure 4: is the schematic illustration of stacking of gloves bi-directionally involving feeder conveyors associated with the bidirectional gloves stacking system in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention thus being directed to an automatised system and method for stacking or arranging packing subjects having distinguishing front and rear end like gloves, different apparel etc.. More particularly, the present invention provides a packing system which is adaptable to stack or arrange packing subjects having distinguishing front and rear end like gloves in a bidirectional manner without any manual incorporation or assistance.

The system and the advancement residing therein is illustrated in greater detail in relation to a glove stacking or arranging for packing of the same immediately following the manufacture of gloves in relation to the above accompanying figures 1 to 4.

Reference is first invited to accompanying Fig 3 which is the illustration of bidirectionally stacked or arranged gloves. As shown in the figure, the gloves stacked one over another such that any two adjacent gloves are stacked in opposite direction i.e. the finger of a gloves is laid over the cuff region of its previous gloves. This type of stacking arrangement is particularly advantageous for packing asymmetric packing subjects like glove which have distinguishing front and rear end in carton as the said arrangement ensure a flat gloves layer and even distribution of weight inside the packing carton along with less packing volume.

Reference is next invited to accompanying Fig. 1 a and Fig. 1 b which are the schematic representation of a preferred embodiment of bidirectional gloves stacking apparatus in accordance with the present invention. As shown in the said figure the proposed apparatus basically comprises of a feeder conveyor unit comprising a pair of rotating feeder conveyer 2, 3 which are placed in a wedge shaped position and installed adjacent and below the end of the manufacturing process conveyer belt 1. that the arrangement of the feeder conveyor unit with respect to the manufacturing process conveyor is such that the gloves reaching the terminal end of the conveyer belt 1 are gravitationally dropped or introduced into the entry/receiving end of the feeder conveyer. A collecting member/receiving shelf 12 is placed a height below the bottom end of the said rotating feeder conveyer intended for containing the stacked layer of bidirectionally arranged gloves. The pair of conveyer belts 7, 8 associated with the rotating feeder conveyer 2, 3 as said previously are adapted to rotate in opposite direction i.e. one the conveyer belt rotate in a clockwise direction and other one rotate in anti-clockwise direction track such that any rigid matter introduced at the entry/receiving end of feeder conveyer is urged towards the exit/bottom end. The said pair of feeder conveyer belts are coupled together and connected to an oscillating device 4 by means of cooperative connecting rod 5, 6 to facilitate the simultaneous pendulum like motion of the said feeder conveyer pair. In accordance with yet further aspect of the present stacking apparatus can be modified or improved by incorporating additional receiving shelf 12 and other cooperative hardwares including weight sensor 11 , 13 for measuring the weight of the receiving shelf during the stacking and forwarding-backwarding device 14, 15 for moving the receiving shelf after completion of the stacking.

Reference is next invited to accompanying Figures 2(a) and 2(b) which illustrate in further detail the pendulum type swinging motion of the rotating feeder conveyer 2, 3. As shown in said figures, the angle of swing or more particularly the maximum swing of the oscillating pair of feeder conveyer is an important parameter to achieve the proper bidirectional stacking of the gloves. Ideally it should be such that, it would be sufficient to lay a complete glove on the receiving shelf and for conventional gloves approximately 20° angle of swing is preferable.

Also, said Figures 2(a) and (b) further illustrate the possible provision of two or more of the collecting members/ shelf such that as soon as the shelf being loaded is full to the desired extent the same is shifted for subsequent packing while a following collecting member/shelf is positioned below the rotating feeder conveyer 2, 3 for subsequent stacking. A sensor means may be provided for such monitoring of the stacked full condition of the collecting member/ shelf for such shifting of the collecting members/shelves for each filling/stacking.

Figure 3 illustrates in greater detail the orientation of the gloves under a bidirectional stacking desired by the present system of the invention. As clearly apparent from the said figure, under a Directional stacking the laying of the gloves are done such that if the lowermost glove on the collecting member/shelf is laid with the front (finger region) to the rear (cuff region) from the first end to the second other end of the collecting member/shelf then the next subsequent stacking is done with the front (finger region) to the rear (cuff region) from the second other end of the collecting member/shelf to its first end.

Reference is next invited to accompanying Figure 4, which illustrates the mechanism of stacking gloves involving the laying the same in bidirectional fashion with the help of the feeder conveyer belt. It is evident form the preceding description that the feeder conveyer is directed to collect the gloves from the end of the production line and transporting it towards the exit/bottom end of the said feeder conveyer pair for stacking the gloves in bidirectional fashion. A sensor can be optionally fitted between the entry and exit point of the feeder conveyer (not shown in the figure) to detect the presence of the gloves at the entry point or exit end of the feeder conveyor. As the gloves eject form the feeder conveyer the said sensor detects the presence of the gloves and triggers the oscillating device which initiates the pendulum like motion of the feeder conveyer. As shown in the said figure, during the first cycle of the pendulum like motion of the feeder conveyer, the fingers of the gloves are first laid out at point X1 on the receiving shelf whereas in the second cycle, more specifically returning cycle of the pendulum like motion of the feeder conveyer the fingers of the glove are first laid out at the X2 which is the cuff region of the earlier laid out glove. During this stacking of the gloves the feeder conveyer makes an accurate and simultaneous motion involving oscillatory motion of the feeder conveyer and the rotational motion of the feeder conveyer belt to facilitate the uniform laying of the gloves over the receiving shelf. Additional modifications and improvements of the present invention may also be apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, the particular combination of parts described and illustrated herein is instead to represent preferred embodiments of the present invention, and is not intended to serve as limitations of alternative devices or/and combinations within the spirit and scope of the invention

Claims

A system for automatised bidirectional stacking or arranging of any stackable, one above the other, subject of manufacture, having a distinguishing front end and a rear end, on a collecting member/shelf(12) comprising of a manufacture process conveyer(1 ) carrying the finished subject of manufacture one after the other, characterized in that the system further includes a feeder conveyer unit(2,3) adapted for pendulum type swinging to and fro movement downwardly disposed with respect to the edge of the said manufacture process conveyor(1 ) such that the subjects of manufacture from the process conveyer are continuously fed at the feed end of said feeder conveyor one after the other ; whereby the subjects are laid out on a collecting member/shelf(12) such that the pendulum type swinging motion of the feeder conveyor from a first end of the collecting member/shelf to its other second end enables laying of the subject from either its front end at the first end of the collecting member/shelf to the second end of the collecting member/shelf at its other second end and during the return movement of the feeder conveyor unit from the front end of the subsequent subject exiting the feeder conveyor at the second end of said collecting member/shelf to its rear end of said subject disposed at the first end of the collecting member/shelf if the subjects exit the feeder conveyor unit with its front end first or vice-versa when the subject exits from the feeder conveyor with its rear end first.

A system for stacking or arranging subject of manufacture, having a distinguishing front end and a rear end, one by one in a bidirectional manner according to claim 1 wherein the system further includes a sensor means adapted to sense the presence of an exiting subject at the exit/bottom end of said feed conveyor(2,3) and activate the pendulum type swinging motion of the feeder conveyer unit.

A system for stacking or arranging gloves having a front end comprising of a finger region and a rear end comprising a cuff region one above the other in a bidirectional manner comprising of a glove manufacturing process conveyer(1 ) carrying the finished gloves one after the other, characterized in that the system further includes a feeder conveyer unit(2,3) adapted for pendulum type swinging to and fro movement downwardly disposed with respect to the edge of the process conveyor such that the gloves from the process conveyer are continuously fed through said feeder conveyor one after the other; whereby the gloves are laid out on a collecting member/shelf such that the pendulum type swing motion of the feeder conveyor from a first end of the collecting member to its other second end enables laying of the glove from either the finger region at the first end to cuff region at its other second end and during the return movement of the feeder conveyor unit from the finger region of the subsequent glove exiting the feeder conveyor at the second end of said collecting member/shelf to cuff region at the first end of the collecting member/shelf if the gloves exit the feeder conveyor unit with its finger region first or vice-versa when the glove exits from the feeder conveyor with its cuff region first.

A system for stacking or arranging gloves one by one in a bidirectional manner according to claim 3 wherein the system further includes a sensor means adapted to sense the presence of an exiting glove at the exit/bottom end of said feed conveyor(2,3) and activate the pendulum type swinging motion of the feeder conveyer unit. A system for stacking or arranging gloves one by one in a bidirectional manner according to claim 4 wherein said feeder conveyor unit comprises a feeder conveyor pair adapted for said pendulum type swing motion together which is disposed in wedge shaped disposition with respect to the manufacturing process conveyor.

A system for stacking or arranging gloves one by one in a bidirectional manner according to claim 5 wherein the conveyor belts of the pair of rotating feeder conveyors rotate in a clockwise and anti-clockwise direction such that any subject /glove introduced at entry/receiving end is urged towards the exit/bottom end of the feeder conveyor unit.

A system for stacking or arranging gloves one by one in a bidirectional manner according to claim 5 wherein said pair of rotating feeder conveyor is positioned adjacent and below the end of said manufacturing process conveyor such that the gloves reaching the terminal end of the manufacturing process conveyor belt with or without removal of air is readily dropped by gravity or introduced into the entry end of the feeder conveyor.

A system for stacking or arranging gloves one by one in a bidirectional manner according to claim 5 wherein the feeder conveyor unit comprising said pair of conveyors are coupled together and adapted to swing simultaneously in said pendulum type motion preferably with an angle of swing of about 20°.

A system for stacking or arranging gloves one by one in a bidirectional manner according to claim 4 wherein said sensor means comprise a through beam light sensor which is positioned either at the entry point or exit point of the feeder conveyor unit. A system for stacking or arranging gloves one by one in a bidirectional manner according to claim 9 wherein the said light sensor is adapted to detect the presence of gloves at the exit/bottom end and based thereon activate the pendulum type motion of the feeder conveyer.

A system for stacking or arranging gloves one by one in a bidirectional manner according to anyone of claims 1 or 3 further comprising the provision of two or more of the collecting members/ shelf disposed thereunder said feeder conveyor such that as soon as the shelf just underneath the feeder conveyor being loaded is full to the desired extent the same is shifted for subsequent packing/off-loading while a following collecting member/shelf is positioned below the rotating feeder conveyer for subsequent stacking/loading thereon.

A system for stacking or arranging gloves one by one in a bidirectional manner according to claim 1 1 wherein said shifting of the collecting members/shelves post stacking/loading thereof is automatised involving a sensor means provided for such monitoring of the stacked full condition of the collecting member/ shelf for activating the required shifting of the collecting members/shelves for each filling/stacking.

A method for stacking or arranging gloves in a bidirectional fashion involving the apparatus as claimed in claim 4 comprising; transporting the finished gloves via manufacturing process conveyer belt to said feeder conveyer unit involving a pair of conveyors at its entry/receiving end whereby the gloves are gravitation ally dropped or introduced into the feed/receiving end of the feeder conveyer unit; rotating the pair of rotating conveyer belts of the feeder conveyer unit to rotate in opposite direction to thereby force the received gloves towards its exit/bottom end; detecting the presence of gloves either at the entry or the exit of the feeder conveyer unit by means of the sensor fitted in either at the entry or the exit of the feeder conveyor unit; activating the pendulum type motion of the feeder conveyor after detecting the presence of gloves either at the entry or the exit of the feeder conveyer; laying the glove in the collecting member/shelf one after the other such that the pendulum type motion of the feeder conveyor from a first end of the collecting member/shelf to its other second end enables laying of the glove from either the front/glove finger region at the first end to rear/glove cuff region at its other second end and during the return movement of the feeder conveyor unit from the front/ glove finger region of the subsequent glove exiting the feeder conveyor at the second end of said collecting member/shelf to its rear/ glove cuff region at the first end if the glove exits the feeder conveyor unit with its front/ glove finger region first or vice- versa when the subject /glove exits from the feeder conveyor with its rear/ glove cuff region first.

A method for stacking or arranging gloves in a bidirectional fashion involving the apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein the gloves are removed from the conveyor and laid out in the stack on the collecting member/shelf within a cycle time of about 0.3 seconds/cycle.

A system for stacking or arranging any subject of manufacture having a distinguishing front end and a rear end one by one in a collecting member/shelf in a bidirectional manner and a method for carrying out such stacking/arranging in bidirectional manner substantially as herein described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying figures.