Single pass sequencing assembly

• US 7,012,211 B2
• Filed: 05/06/2003
• Issued: 03/14/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Dematic Corporation (KION GROUP AG)
• Original Assignee: Rapistan Systems Advertising Corporation (OSI Systems Incorporated)
• Inventors: Schiesser, Ricardo N., Tomanek, Jack W., Brinkley, Dick D., Terpstra, Arthur J. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Walsh, Donald P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Miller, Jonathan R.
• Application Number:
  US10/430,525
• Publication Number:
  US 20030209473A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,043 Days
• Field of Search: 209/584, 209/900, 700/115, 700214-300, 270/52.01, 270/52.02, 270/52.03
• US Class Current: 209/584
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/008 Means for collecting objects, e.g. containers for sorted mail items pile receivers in general B65H31/00
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/08 using arrangements of conveyors transport of sheets B65H; transport in general B65G
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/90 Sorting flat-type mail

Abstract

A method and apparatus for sequencing articles via a single sort pass or process includes a plurality of article receivers or collators positioned along a conveying or transport path and a plurality of carriages movable along the path. The carriages receive articles from at least one induct in a generally random manner and discharge the articles at the appropriate collators. The collators are operable to selectively receive the articles at an appropriate one of a plurality of bins of the collators, such that the articles are positioned within the bins of the collators in a sequenced manner. The articles may be unloaded to a plurality of collecting devices and/or manually unloaded and placed or stacked in a container in the desired sequence. The collecting devices may be manually unloaded while the collators simultaneously selectively receive articles during a subsequent sort wave or process.

Claims

1. A single pass sequencing assembly for automatically sorting and sequencing articles to an unloading station in a sequenced manner comprising:

a transport mechanism for transporting articles, said transport mechanism having at least one discharge chute for discharging the articles; and

at least one article receiver for selectively receiving articles from said at least one discharge chute of said transport mechanism, said at least one article receiver having a plurality of bins, said at least one article receiver being movable along a longitudinal axis of said at least one article receiver, said at least one article receiver being selectively movable in either direction along said longitudinal axis to selectively align a selected one of said bins with said at least one discharge chute, said at least one article receiver selectively receiving articles in said bins such that the articles are received and sequenced in said at least one article receiver at a delivery point sequence after a single sort pass.

2. The single pass sequencing assembly of claim 1, wherein said at least one article receiver is positioned generally vertically.

3. A single pass sequencing assembly for automatically sorting and sequencing articles to an unloading station in a sequenced manner comprising:

a transport mechanism for transporting articles, said transport mechanism having at least one discharge chute for discharging the articles; and

at least one article receiver for selectively receiving articles from said at least one discharge chute of said transport mechanism, said at least one article receiver having multiple bins and being selectively movable to align said bins with said at least one discharge chute, said at least one article receiver selectively receiving articles in said bins such that the articles are received and sequenced in said at least one article receiver at a delivery point sequence after a single sort pass, wherein said at least one article receiver is tilted at an angle with respect to vertical.

4. A single pass sequencing assembly for automatically sorting and sequencing articles to an unloading station in a sequenced manner comprising:

a transport mechanism for transporting articles, said transport mechanism having at least one discharge chute for discharging the articles; and

at least one article receiver for selectively receiving articles from said at least one discharge chute of said transport mechanism, said at least one article receiver having multiple bins and being selectively movable to align said bins with said at least one discharge chute, said at least one article receiver selectively receiving articles in said bins such that the articles are received and sequenced in said at least one article receiver at a delivery point sequence after a single sort pass, wherein said at least one article receiver is positioned generally borizontally.

5. A single pass sequencing assembly for automatically sorting and sequencing articles to an unloading station in a sequenced manner comprising:

a transport mechanism for transporting articles, said transport mechanism having at least one discharge chute for discharging the articles;

at least one article receiver for selectively receiving articles from said at least one discharge chute of said transport mechanism, said at least one article receiver having a plurality of bins, said at least one article receiver being movable along a longitudinal axis of said at least one article receiver, said at least one article receiver being selectively movable in opposite directions along said longitudinal axis to selectively align a selected one of said bins with said at least one discharge chute, said at least one article receiver selectively receiving articles in said bins such that the articles arc received and sequenced in said at least one article receiver at a delivery point sequence after a single sort pass; and

at least one collecting device for collecting sequenced articles from said at least one article receiver.

6. The single pass sequencing assembly of claim 5, wherein said at least one collecting device comprises a plurality of collector bins which are positionable relative to said bins of said at least one article receiver for receiving articles from said bins of said at least one article receiver.

7. The single pass sequencing assembly of claim 6, wherein each of said plurality of collector bins is adapted to receive articles from at least two of said plurality of bins of said at least one article receiver.

8. The single pass sequencing assembly of claim 7, wherein said at least one article receiver is positioned generally horizontal and said at least one collecting device is positioned generally horizontal and generally beneath said at least one article receiver.

9. The single pass sequencing assembly of claim 8, wherein said at least one collecting device is generally horizontally movable to an unloading position away from said at least one article receiver for unloading of articles within said at least one collecting device.

10. The single pass sequencing assembly of claim 9, wherein said at least one article receiver is operable to selectively receive articles while said at least one collecting device is in said unloading position.

11. The single pass sequencing assembly of claim 5, wherein said at least one article receiver is operable to open at least two of said bins generally at the same time to discharge received articles from said bins to said at least one collecting device.

12. The single pass sequencing assembly of claim 5, wherein said at least one article receiver comprises a plurality of article receivers positioned along a conveying path, said transport mechanism transporting articles along said conveying path and discharging articles to an appropriate one of said plurality of article receivers via a corresponding one of a plurality of discharge chutes.

13. A method of sorting articles to a particular sequence comprising:

transporting articles with a transport mechanism;

inducting articles to at least one article receiver via at least one discharge chute, said at least one article receiver having a plurality of bins for receiving articles therein; and

selectively moving said at least one article receiver in a first direction to generally align a first selected bin with said at least one discharge chute and selectively moving said at least one article receiver in a second direction to generally align a second selected bin with said at least one discharge chute for selectively receiving the articles in said bins such that the articles are received and sequenced in said at least one article receiver in a delivery point sequence after a single sort pass.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein transporting articles comprises transporting articles via a plurality of carriages moving along a conveying path and wherein inducting articles to at least one article receiver comprises inducting articles into a plurality of article receivers positioned along said conveying path via a plurality of discharge chutes.

15. The method of claim 13 including discharging sequenced articles from said at least one article receiver into at least one collecting device.

16. The method of claim 15 including selectively receiving articles in said at least one article receiver while simultaneously unloading previously sequenced articles from said at least one collecting device.

17. The method of claim 16 including moving said at lean one collecting device to an unloading position away from said at least one article receiver prior to unloading sequenced articles from said at least one collecting device.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein discharging sequenced articles comprises discharging sequenced articles from at least two of said bins at generally the same time into at least one collecting device.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein selectively moving said at least one article receiver comprises selectively moving said at least one article receiver in opposite directions to generally align said bins wit said at least one discharge chute.

20. A sequencing assembly comprising:

a transport assembly for transporting articles along a transport path, said transport assembly having a plurality of discharge chutes positioned along said transport path; and

a plurality of collating devices positioned along said transport path, said transport assembly being operable to receive articles from an induct and to discharge articles to an appropriate one of said collating devices via a respective one of said discharge chutes, each of said collating devices including a plurality of bins for receiving articles discharged from said discharge chute, said collating devices being operable to selectively move said bins to generally align with said discharge chutes, said collating devices being operable to selectively move said bins in a first direction to generally align a first bin with said discharge chute and to selectively move said bins in a second direction to generally align a second bin with said discharge chute, said collating devices selectively receiving articles discharged from said discharge chutes in appropriate bins so that articles are received in said bins of said collating devices in a sequenced manner.

21. The sequencing assembly of claim 20, wherein said collating device is operable to selectively move said bins in opposite directions to generally align said bins with said discharge chute.

22. The sequencing assembly of claim 20, wherein said collating devices are operable to align said appropriate bin with said discharge chute when an article corresponding to said appropriate bin arrives at said discharge chute.

23. The sequencing assembly of claim 20, wherein said transport assembly includes a plurality of carriages movable to transport articles along said transport path, said carriages discharging articles onto a discharge conveyor at said discharge chute at said appropriate one of said collating devices.

24. The sequencing assembly of claim 23, wherein said discharge conveyor is operable to accumulate articles after they are discharged from said carriages and before they are discharged to said bins of said collating device.

25. The sequencing assembly of claim 23, wherein said discharge conveyor comprises at least one conveyor belt which is operable to receive the articles from said carriages and to convey the articles to said discharge chute for discharging the articles into said collating devices.

26. The sequencing assembly of claim 25, wherein said at least one conveyor belt is operable to buffer articles thereon.

27. A sequencing assembly comprising:

a transport assembly for transporting articles along a transport path, said transport assembly having a plurality of discharge chutes positioned along said transport path; and

a plurality of collating devices positioned along said transport path, said transport assembly being operable to receive articles from an induct and to discharge articles to an appropriate one of said collating devices via a respective one or said discharge chutes, each of said collating devices including a plurality of bins for receiving articles discharged from said discharge chute, said collating devices being operable to selectively move said bins to generally align with said discharge chutes, said collating devices selectively receiving articles discharged from said discharge chutes in appropriate bins so that articles are received in said bins of said collating devices in a sequenced manner, said transport assembly including a plurality of carriages movable to transport articles along said transport path, said carriages discharging articles onto a discharge conveyor at said discharge chute at said appropriate one of said collating devices, said discharge conveyor comprising at least one conveyor belt which is operable to receive the articles from said carriages and to convey the articles to said discharge chute for discharging the articles into said collating devices, wherein said at least one conveyor belt is tilted toward one side such that articles being conveyed along said at least one conveyor belt are generally aligned along one side of said at least one conveyor belt.

28. A sequencing assembly comprising:

a transport assembly for transporting articles along a transport path, said transport assembly having a plurality of discharge chutes positioned along said transport path;

a plurality of collating devices positioned along said transport path, said transport assembly being operable to receive articles from an induct and to discharge articles to an appropriate one of said collating devices via a respective one of said discharge chutes, each of said collating devices including a plurality of bins for receiving articles discharged from said discharge chute, said collating devices being operable to selectively move said bins to generally align with said discharge chutes, said bins being selectively movable in opposite directions to align a selected one of said bins with said discharge chute, said collating devices selectively receiving articles discharged from said discharge chutes in appropriate bins so that articles are received in said bins of said collating devices in a sequenced manner; and

a plurality of collecting devices which are configured to receive sequenced articles from said bins of respective ones of said collating devices after the articles have been selectively received by said collating devices.

29. The sequencing assembly of claim 28, wherein each of said collecting devices comprises a plurality or collector bins for receiving the sequenced articles.

30. The sequencing assembly of claim 29, wherein each of said plurality of collector bins of said collecting devices is adapted to hold articles from at least two of said bins of said collating devices.

31. The sequencing assembly of claim 29, wherein said collating devices are movable to align said bins of said collating devices with said collector bins of said collecting devices, said bins of said collating devices being openable to discharge the sequenced articles from said collating devices into said collecting devices.

32. A sequencing assembly comprising:

a transport assembly for transporting articles along a transport path, said transport assembly having a plurality of discharge chutes positioned along said transport path;

a plurality of collating devices positioned along said transport path, said transport assembly being operable to receive articles from an induct and to discharge articles to an appropriate one of said collating devices via a respective one of said discharge chutes, each of said collating devices including a plurality of bins for receiving articles discharged from said discharge chute, said collating devices being operable to selectively move said bins to generally align with said discharge chutes, said collating devices selectively receiving articles discharged from said discharge chutes in appropriate bins so that articles are received iii said bins of said collating devices in a sequenced manner; and

a plurality of collecting devices which are configured to receive sequenced articles from said bins of respective ones of said collating devices after the articles have been selectively received by said collating devices, wherein said collating devices and said collecting devices are oriented generally horizontally with said collecting devices being positioned generally below said collating devices.

33. The sequencing assembly of claim 32, wherein each of said collecting devices is movable between a loading position generally below said respective collating device for loading the sequenced articles to said collecting device to an unloading position away from said collating device.

34. The sequencing assembly of claim 33, wherein each of said collecting devices is configured to be unloaded by an operator when in said unloading position while said respective collating device is simultaneously operable to selectively receive articles from said carriages during a subsequent sort process.

35. A sequencing assembly comprising:

a transport assembly for transporting articles along a transport path said transport assembly having a plurality of discharge chutes positioned along said transport path;

a plurality of collating devices positioned alone said transport path, said transport assembly being operable to receive articles from an induct and to discharge articles to an appropriate one of said collating devices via a respective one of said discharge chutes, each of said collating devices including a plurality of bins for receiving articles discharged from said discharge chute, said collating devices being operable to selectively move said bins to generally align with said discharge chutes, said collating devices selectively receiving articles discharged from said discharge chutes in appropriate bins so that articles are received in said bins of said collating devices in a sequenced manner; and

a plurality of collecting devices which are configured to receive sequenced articles from said bins of respective ones of said collating devices after the articles have been selectively received by said collating devices, wherein said collating devices are tilted at an angle with respect to vertical such that the articles are received by said collating devices in a manner whereby gravity functions to move the articles toward a side or corner of the respective bins of said collating device.

36. The sequencing assembly of claim 35, wherein said collecting devices are tilted to generally correspond to the tilt of said collating devices.

37. The sequencing assembly of claim 35, wherein said collecting devices are adjustable to a generally horizontal position after receiving articles from said collating devices to ease the removal of the articles from said collecting devices by an operator.

38. An article sequencing system comprising:

a transport assembly including a conveying path and a plurality of carriages movable along said conveying path, said transport assembly including at least one induct operable to induct articles onto said plurality of carriages;

a plurality of collators positioned along said conveying path, said collators being operable to receive articles front said plurality of carriages, each of said collators including a plurality of bins and being operable to selectively move said bins in either direction along a longitudinal axis of said collator and relative to a discharge of said sorter carriages to generally align said bins with said discharge such that articles are received by said bins of said collators in a sequenced manner; and

a plurality of collecting devices configured to receive the sequenced articles from said bins of said collators, said plurality of collators being operable to discharge received and sequenced articles in said bins into a respective one of said plurality of collecting devices, said plurality of collecting devices being movable to an unloading position for unloading of the sequenced articles from said collecting devices.

39. The article sequencing system of claim 38, wherein said plurality of collecting devices includes a plurality of collecting bins, whereby each of said plurality of collecting bins of each of said collecting devices is operable to receive sequenced articles from a plurality of said plurality of bins of each of said collators.

40. The article sequencing system of claim 39, wherein said collecting devices arc movable between a loading position where said collecting devices are generally aligned with respective ones of said collating devices and an unloading position where said collecting bins of said collecting devices are accessible to an operator for unloading of said collecting devices.

41. The article sequencing system of claim 40, wherein said collators are operable to receive articles from said carriages during a second sort wave while said collecting devices are being simultaneously unloaded by at least one operator.

42. The article sequencing system of claim 38 including a discharge assembly operable to receive articles from said carriages and to discharge the articles to said bins of said collators.

43. The article sequencing system of claim 42, wherein said discharge assembly is operable to accumulate articles until an appropriate one of said bins of said collators is aligned with a discharge of said discharge assembly.

44. The article sequencing system of claim 38, wherein said plurality of collators are positioned generally horizontally and said plurality of collecting devices are positioned generally horizontally and generally below said plurality of collators.

45. The article sequencing system of claim 44, wherein each of said collators is operable to discharge the sequenced articles from said bins of said collator simultaneously to a corresponding one of said collecting devices.

46. The article sequencing system of claim 38, wherein said plurality of collators and said plurality of collecting devices are positioned generally vertically.

47. The article sequencing system of claim 46, wherein said plurality of collecting devices are movable to a generally horizontal unloading position for unloading sequenced articles from said collecting devices.

48. The article sequencing system of claim 38, wherein said collators are selectively movable in opposite directions to align said bins of said collators with said discharge.

49. A method of sorting articles to a desired sequence comprising:

providing a transport assembly having a conveying path, at least one induct along said conveying path, and a plurality of carriages movable along said conveying path;

loading articles onto said plurality of carriages;

discharging articles from said plurality of carriages to a discharge chute at a particular one of a plurality of collators positioned along said conveying path, each of said collators having a plurality of collator bins;

selectively moving said collator bins in a first direction to align an appropriate first one of said collator bins wit said discharge chute;

receiving the discharged articles in said appropriate first one of said collator bins;

selectively moving said collator bins in a second direction to align an appropriate second one of said collator bins with said discharge chute;

receiving the discharged articles in said appropriate second one of said collator bins such that the articles are arranged in said collator bins in a sequenced manner; and

unloading said collator bins of said plurality of collators to respective ones of a plurality of collecting devices and receiving said sequenced articles in said plurality of collecting devices.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein unloading said collator bins includes aligning said collator bins with corresponding collector bins of said collecting devices and unloading said collator bins to respective ones of said collector bins.

51. The method of claim 49 including moving said collecting devices to an unloading position after receiving sequenced articles in said collecting devices.

52. The method of claim 51 including manually unloading said collector bins while said collator bins simultaneously selectively receive the discharged articles.

53. The method of claim 49 including buffering articles discharged from said plurality of carriages while selectively moving said collator bins to align an appropriate one of said collator bins with said discharge chute.

54. The method of claim 49 including aligning articles along one side of a discharge conveyor between said carriages and said discharge chute.

55. The method of claim 49, wherein selectively moving said collator bins comprises selectively moving said collator bins in opposite directions to align an appropriate one of said collator bins with said discharge chute.