High volume conveyor sortation system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A sortation system, comprising:
- a sorter assembly, said sorter assembly receiving product and sorting that product to a plurality of sortation lines;
a supply system made up of a plurality of conveyors and a merge assembly, wherein said merge assembly supplies product to said conveyors and said conveyors supply product to said sorter assembly; and
a control system, said control system monitoring product supplied to the sorter assembly and determining a parameter, said parameter indicative of an excess of product supplied to said sorter assembly with respect to product being sorted by said sorter assembly;
said control system controlling a speed of said conveyors as a function of a value of the parameter in order to maintain a balance between a rate of supply of product by said supply system and a rate at which product are sorted by said sorter assembly by reducing the speed of said conveyors in response to an increase in said parameter and by increasing the speed of said conveyors in response to a decrease in said parameter.
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Abstract
A sortation system and method of sorting product includes providing a sorter assembly and a supply system supplying product that is received by the sorter assembly. Product supplied to the sorter assembly is monitored and a parameter is determined that is indicative of the relationship between product supplied to the sorter assembly and product being sorted by the sorter assembly. The supply system is controlled as a function of a value of the parameter.
53 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A sortation system, comprising:
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a sorter assembly, said sorter assembly receiving product and sorting that product to a plurality of sortation lines; a supply system made up of a plurality of conveyors and a merge assembly, wherein said merge assembly supplies product to said conveyors and said conveyors supply product to said sorter assembly; and a control system, said control system monitoring product supplied to the sorter assembly and determining a parameter, said parameter indicative of an excess of product supplied to said sorter assembly with respect to product being sorted by said sorter assembly; said control system controlling a speed of said conveyors as a function of a value of the parameter in order to maintain a balance between a rate of supply of product by said supply system and a rate at which product are sorted by said sorter assembly by reducing the speed of said conveyors in response to an increase in said parameter and by increasing the speed of said conveyors in response to a decrease in said parameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16)
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9. A sortation system, comprising:
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a sorter assembly, said sorter assembly receiving product and sorting that product to a plurality of sortation lines; a supply system made up of a plurality of conveyors, said supply system supplying product that is received by said sorter assembly; and a control system, said control system monitoring product supplied to the sorter assembly and determining a parameter, said parameter indicative of an excess of product supplied to said sorter assembly with respect to product being sorted by said sorter assembly; said control system controlling said supply system as a function of a value of the parameter by decreasing the supply of product supplied by said supply system in response to an increase in said parameter and by increasing the supply of product supplied by said supply system in response to a decrease in said parameter; and wherein said sorter assembly includes a product induct, said product induct adjusting an actual product gap between product being sorted by said sorter assembly wherein said control system determines a value of said parameter as a function of operation of said product induct. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 20)
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17. A sortation system, comprising:
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a sorter, said sorter receiving product and sorting that product to a plurality of sortation lines; an accumulator supplying product to said sorter, said accumulator accumulating an excess of product supplied to said accumulator with respect to product supplied to said sorter; a supply system made up of a plurality of conveyors, said supply system supplying product to said accumulator; and a control system, said control system monitoring product accumulated with said accumulator and adjusting a rate of product supplied with said supply system as a function of fullness of said accumulator with product, wherein said control system decreases the supply of product supplied with said supply system in response to an increase in the fullness of said accumulator and increases the supply of product supplied with said supply system in response to a decrease in the fullness of said accumulator.
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18. A method of sorting product comprising:
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providing a sorter assembly, receiving product with said sorter assembly and sorting that product to a plurality of sortation lines; providing a supply system made up of a plurality of conveyors and a merge assembly, and supplying product from said merge assembly to said conveyors and from said conveyors to said sorter assembly; and monitoring product supplied to the sorter assembly and determining a parameter, said parameter indicative of an excess of product supplied to said sorter assembly with respect to product being sorted by said sorter assembly; and controlling a speed of said conveyors as a function of a value of said parameter in order to maintain a balance between a rate of supply of articles by said supply system and a rate at which articles are sorted by said sorter assembly by reducing the speed of said conveyors in response to an increase in said parameter and by increasing the speed of said conveyors in response to a decrease in said parameter.
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19. A method of sorting product comprising:
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providing a sorter, receiving product with said sorter and sorting that product to a plurality of sortation lines; providing an accumulator supplying product to said sorter, accumulating with said accumulator an excess of product supplied to said accumulator with respect to product supplied to said sorter; providing a supply system made up of a plurality of conveyors, supplying product with said supply system to said accumulator; and monitoring product accumulated with said accumulator and adjusting a rate of product supplied with said supply system as a function of fullness of said accumulator with product including decreasing the supply of product supplied with said supply system in response to an increase in fullness of said accumulator and increasing the supply of product supplied with said supply system in response to a decrease in fullness of said accumulator.
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Specification