System for sorting commercial articles and method therefor

• US 20030116480A1
• Filed: 01/09/2003
• Published: 06/26/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Chiyuki Takizawa
• Original Assignee: At
• Inventors: Takizawa, Chiyuki
• Granted Patent: US 6,784,391 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 209/583
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 7/005 Computer assisted manual sorting, e.g. for mail
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/137 with arrangements or automatic control means for selecting which articles are to be removed
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/1375 the orders being assembled on a commissioning stacker-crane or truck
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/1378 the orders being assembled on fixed commissioning areas remote from the storage areas
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2209/04 Indication location means
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/5104 for articles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/933 Accumulation receiving separated items

Abstract

A direction indicator placed on one site of a sorting block indicates, for a given good, the direction towards a nominated slot through which the good is to be placed in the block. This arrangement makes it possible for the hauler to immediately put a good into a nominated slot without looking around at sorting blocks at large, which will lead to the improvement of work efficiency. Moreover, because this will moderate the burden imposed on the hauler, the number of wrongly hauled goods would be greatly reduced.

If a good is passed through a wrong slot, it is recognized by a sensor and then an alarming means is activated to generate a buzzing sound or a blinking light to alarm. This arrangement will make it possible to greatly reduce the number of wrongly hauled goods.

In association with the entry of every good, the name of the provider, as well as the name of the manufacturer of the good, the property of the good and the number of its scheduled input, is given because the provider can feed his name through an input feeding means.

This arrangement will make it possible to efficiently manage inflow goods according to the name of providers, simply dependent on identification codes generally attached to goods such as a JAN code or ITF code.

Claims

1. A shipment sorting system including:

transferring unit cargoes containing articles to be shipped from an inflow area through a conveyor to a shipment sorting area;

sorting cargoes according to different shipment requirements in the shipment sorting area; and

transferring sorted unit cargoes to delivery carts for shipment,

comprising a buffer storage line to store unit cargoes which have been transferred from the inflow area through the conveyor to the shipment sorting area.

2. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 1 wherein the buffer storage line is a loop storage line to store unit cargoes after allowing cargoes to circulate through a loop.

3. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 1 wherein the buffer storage line is constituted of a plurality of straight storage lines arranged in parallel.

4. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 2 wherein a loop storage line or a plurality of straight storage lines are arranged in a plane, and such planes are overlaid two or more times.

5. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 1 wherein the buffer storage line is a plurality of loop storage lines being combined such that they are partially overlapped with each other, each of the loop storage line storing unit cargoes after allowing them to circulate through a loop.

6. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 5 wherein, of the plurality of loop storage lines, the outermost one is a shipment sorting loop line

7. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 1 wherein the buffer storage line is constituted of a main loop line, a sub-loop line connected to the main loop line with parts of the lines overlapped, and straight storage lines arranged in parallel within the loop of the sub-loop line.

8. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 1 wherein the buffer storage line is constituted of a main line, sub-loop lines connected to the main line with parts of the lines overlapped and overlaid two or more times vertically, and straight storage lines arranged in parallel within the loops of the sub-loop lines.

9. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 1 wherein the buffer storage line is constituted of a plurality of parallel running straight storage lines connected in series in such a way as to allow a unit cargo thereon to be continuously conveyed, and to allow a unit cargo coming to the junction between a line and a downstream line, to return to an upstream line or to go further along the downstream line.

10. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 5 wherein a plurality of shoot lines at a shipment sorting station are arranged into an array of multi-layered shoot lines, and unit cargoes are distributed to the rows of shoot lines according to their sorting requirements to be shot there.

11. A shipment sorting system as described in claim 10 wherein a sensor to detect the presence of a unit cargo and a display device to indicate the requirement of a unit cargo, and the work required for handling the cargo are provided to an end of each shoot line.