Transport carrier for use in an article sorting system

• US 5,377,814 A
• Filed: 12/16/1991
• Issued: 01/03/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ellis Corporation
• Original Assignee: Fabri-Check, Inc.
• Inventors: Smith, Barry W., Freitas, Michael W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Valenza, Joseph E.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tuan N.
• Application Number:
  US07/807,730
• Time in Patent Office: 1,114 Days
• Field of Search: 198/349, 198/349.8, 198/349.95, 198/350, 198/358, 198/359, 198/360, 198/362, 198/465.4, 198/687.1, 209/3.1, 209/3.3, 209/563, 209/564, 209/583, 209/900, 209/937
• US Class Current: 198/465.4
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 5/3412 according to a code applied to the object which indicates a property of the object, e.g. quality class, contents or incorrect indication sorting according to size measured by light-responsive means B07C5/10; sorting according to optical properties B07C5/342; for packages B65D79/02; for information carriers G06K7/00
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2201/0229 Clothes, clothes hangers
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/50 according to destination signals stored in separate systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/08 Sorting, i.e. grouping record carriers in numerical or other ordered sequence according to the classification of at least some of the information they carry by merging two or more sets of carriers in ordered sequence G06F7/16
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/937 Laundry sorting

Abstract

A sorting system in which uniquely coded garments are hung on transport carriers, also having unique identification bar codes. The garment transport carriers include a connector for removably attaching garments or garment hangers and a hook which engages the transport rails so that the carrier can be moved along the rails and throughout the sorting system. Such a hook is used with slick-type rails, screw-type conveyor rails and even channel-type rails, or a rotatable wheel may be mounted on the carrier for movement of the carrier along rails, including channel-type rails. The transport carrier bar code is read as it progresses through the sorting system and is compared with a computer data base of garment information to determine the sorting route. The garment identification is initially correlated in the computer data base before sorting with the carrier identification code. Once all garment carriers and associated garments of a lot have been identified and correlated by the computer, an algorithm is carried out for assigning a sort value to each carrier. A master distributor switch then distributes the garment carriers a first time to a plurality of sort paths based upon a least significant digit of the sort value. Second and subsequent digits of the sort value of each carrier are employed to recirculate and resort the garment carriers to the plural sort paths to complete the sorting operation with the parallel paths. The garment carriers are then sequentially released from the parallel sort paths to an exit sort path in a final serial order representative of the order of the garments desired by the customers.

Claims

1. A transport carrier for use in an article sorting system having transport rails for transporting a plurality said carriers, comprising:

a frame member;

a hook fixed to said frame member for hanging said transport carrier from the transport rails so that the carrier can be moved along the transport rails; and

a plurality of fingers fixed to said frame and aligned to form a receiving area for removably securing an article hanger, said fingers comprising at least one forefinger and one aft finger with the forefinger being shorter than the aft finger to facilitate placement of the hanger into the receiving area and said fingers having reduced thickness at the receiving area to facilitate placement of the article hanger, wherein the plurality of fingers are aligned in parallel, said forefingers are aligned in a first width-wise plane, said aft fingers are aligned in a second width-wise plane, and said plurality of fingers are each aligned in separate thickness-wise planes, said first width-wise plane being offset from said second width-wise plane to form the receiving area.

2. The transport carrier of claim 1, wherein a nipple is formed on at least one of the fingers for securing the hanger in the receiving area.

3. A transport carrier for use in an article sorting system having transport rails, including at least screw-type conveyor rails, for transporting a plurality of said carriers, comprising:

a frame member;

a hook fixed to said frame member for engagement with the transport rails so that the carrier can be moved along the transport rails, wherein the hook comprises an apex which is narrower in thickness than the thickness of the frame for enabling ease of mechanical separation of the carriers; and

a connector fixed to said frame for removably attaching an article to said transport carrier.

4. A transport carrier for use in an article sorting system of the type having a transport rail for movement of plural said carriers, comprising:

a hook for engagement with the transport rail, said hook having a smaller thickness at its apex than the thickness of the rest of the carrier;

a connector attached to the hook, comprising a plurality of fingers, including at least one forefinger and one aft finger, aligned to form a receiving area for removably securing an article to said transport carrier; and

a unique identification associated with each said carrier to differentiate one said carrier from another.