Apparatus and method for measuring the weight of items on a conveyor
First Claim
1. An apparatus for measuring the weight of items on a conveyor comprising:
- a scale that generates a first signal corresponding to the weight of said items as they pass over the scale;
a moveable platform that transports the items to the scale, said moveable platform generating a second signal corresponding to a position of the items in relation to said scale;
a dimensioner that examines the items transported on the moveable platform and generates a third signal representative of whether the items are singulated or nonsingulated;
memory in which said first, said second and said third signals are stored;
a processor operatively connected to said scale, said dimensioner, said memory, and said moveable platform,wherein said processor receives said second and said third signals and determines, based on said second and third signals, whether to associate said first signal with information stored in said memory about a particular said item based upon whether the particular item is singulated or nonsingulated.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for measuring the weight of items on a conveyor includes a scale that generates a first signal corresponding to the weight of the items. A movable platform transports the items to the scale and generates a second signal corresponding to position of the items in relation to the scale. A dimensioner examines the items and generates a third signal representative of whether the items are singulated or nonsingulated. A processor receives the second and third signals and determines whether to associate the first signal with information stored in memory about a particular item based upon whether the particular item is singulated or nonsingulated.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus for measuring the weight of items on a conveyor comprising:
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a scale that generates a first signal corresponding to the weight of said items as they pass over the scale; a moveable platform that transports the items to the scale, said moveable platform generating a second signal corresponding to a position of the items in relation to said scale; a dimensioner that examines the items transported on the moveable platform and generates a third signal representative of whether the items are singulated or nonsingulated; memory in which said first, said second and said third signals are stored; a processor operatively connected to said scale, said dimensioner, said memory, and said moveable platform, wherein said processor receives said second and said third signals and determines, based on said second and third signals, whether to associate said first signal with information stored in said memory about a particular said item based upon whether the particular item is singulated or nonsingulated.
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2. An apparatus for measuring the weight of items on a conveyor, comprising:
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a conveyor that moves the items in a direction in a path of travel; a scale disposed in the path of travel so that the scale receives the items moving on the conveyor and outputs a first signal corresponding to a weight of said items that are received by the scale; a dimensioner disposed proximate the conveyor that detects the items moving on the conveyor and that outputs a second signal containing information describing a location of a boundary of each first item in the path of travel and relative to locations of other said items in the path of travel proximate the first item; a processor that receives the first signal and the second signal and that determines, based on the location of the boundary of the first item in the path of travel, when the first signal corresponds to receipt of the first item by the scale, detects, based on the location of the boundary of the first item in the path of travel relative to respective locations of boundaries of other said items proximate the first item, whether the first item longitudinally overlaps, with respect to the direction, a second said item disposed in the path of travel, acquires a weight from the first signal, assigns the acquired weight to a record corresponding to the first item based upon determination that the first item has moved in the path of travel to the scale so that the first signal corresponds to receipt of the first item by the scale and that the first item does not longitudinally overlap the second item, and upon determining that the first item has moved in the path of travel to the scale so that the first signal corresponds to receipt of the first item by the scale and that the first item longitudinally overlaps the second item, does not assign the acquired weight to the record for the first item. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus for measuring the weight of items on a conveyor, comprising:
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a conveyor that moves the items in a direction in a path of travel; a scale disposed in the path of travel so that the scale receives the items moving on the conveyor and outputs a first signal corresponding to a weight of said items that are received by the scale; a dimensioner disposed proximate the conveyor, the dimensioner having a signal source that outputs a second signal with which the items interact as the items move along the path of travel so that when a first said item interacts with the second signal, the second signal carries information corresponding to at least one spatial dimension of the first item, wherein the dimensioner produces a third signal that includes the information; and a processor that receives the first signal and the third signal, determines, based on the information, a location of a boundary of the first item in the path of travel and relative to locations of boundaries of other said items in the path of travel proximate the first item, determines, based on the location of the boundary of the first item in the path of travel, when the first signal corresponds to receipt of the first item by the scale, and detects, based on the location of the boundary of the first item with respect to the locations of boundaries of other said items proximate the first item, a first condition in which the boundary of the first item overlaps, relative to the direction, a boundary of a said other item that is received by the scale and a second condition in which the boundary of the first item does not overlap, relative to the direction, the boundary of a said other item that is received by the scale, wherein, upon determining that the first signal corresponds to receipt of the first item by the scale, the processor associates a weight defined by the first signal with a record corresponding to the first item based upon detection of the second condition and does not associate the weight defined by the first signal with the record when the processor detects the first condition. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus for measuring the weight of items on a conveyor, comprising:
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a conveyor that moves the items in a direction in a path of travel; a scale disposed in the path of travel so that the scale receives the items moving on the conveyor and outputs a first signal corresponding to a weight of said items that are received by the scale; a dimensioner disposed proximate the conveyor, the dimensioner having a signal source that outputs a second signal with which the items interact as the items move along the path of travel so that when a first said item interacts with the second signal, the second signal carries information corresponding to at least one spatial dimension of the first item, wherein the dimensioner produces a third signal that includes the information; a first processor that receives the third signal and determines, based on the information, a location of a boundary of the first item in the path of travel; and a second processor that receives the first signal, receives from the first processor the location of the boundary of the first item in the path of travel and establishes a record for the first item, determines, based on the location of the boundary of the first item in the path of travel, when the first signal corresponds to receipt of the first item by the scale, detects, based on the location of the boundary of the first item in the path of travel relative to respective locations of boundaries of other said items proximate the first item, whether the first item longitudinally overlaps, with respect to the direction, a second said item disposed in the path of travel or is separated longitudinally from a said second item within a predetermined longitudinal distance that inhibits acquisition of weight of the first item from the first signal, and acquires a weight of the first item from the first signal, and assigns the acquired weight to the record for the first item, when the second processor determines that the first item has moved in the path of travel to the scale so that the first signal corresponds to receipt of the first item by the scale, the first item does not longitudinally overlap the second item, and the second item is not within the predetermined longitudinal distance from the first item. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for measuring the weight of items being moved on a conveyor in a direction in a path of travel, comprising the steps of:
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providing a scale disposed in the path of travel so that the scale receives the items moving on the conveyor and outputs a first signal corresponding to a weight of said items that are received by the scale; determining at least one spatial dimension of a first said item; determining, based on the at least one spatial dimension, a location of a boundary of the first item in the path of travel and relative to locations of boundaries of other said items in the path of travel proximate the first item; determining, based on the location of the boundary of the first item in the path of travel, when the first signal corresponds to receipt of the first item by the scale; detecting, based on the location of the boundary of the first item with respect to the locations of boundaries of other said items proximate the first item, a first condition in which the boundary of the first item overlaps, relative to the direction, a boundary of a said other item that is received by the scale and a second condition in which the boundary of the first item does not overlap, relative to the direction, the boundary of a said other item that is received by the scale; and upon determining that the first signal corresponds to receipt of the first item by the scale, associating a weight defined by the first signal with a record corresponding to the first item based upon detection of the second condition and not associating the weight defined by the first signal with the record upon detecting the first condition.
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Specification