Method and apparatus for sorting articles by way of storage regions
First Claim
1. A sorting plant for the sorting of a plurality of articles, the sorting plant comprising:
- a feed transport path;
a lead-away transport path;
a plurality of connecting transport paths each branching off from said feed transport path and issuing into said lead-away transport path;
a plurality of storage regions, each configured for temporarily storing a plurality of articles to be sorted; and
a data storage device with a computer-evaluatable sorting plan;
said feed transport path, each said connecting transport path, and said lead-away transport path being configured for transporting the articles in a given transport direction;
said sorting plan assigning a storage region, in each case to each possible feature value of a stipulated sorting feature;
a measuring device configured for measuring, for each article to be sorted, which feature value the sorting feature assumes for the respective article;
wherein one of said feed transport path or said lead-away transport path is configured as a storage transport path and the other of said feed transport path and lead-away transport path is configured as an overtaking transport path;
wherein said storage transport path comprises said storage regions, in the form of a sequence of successive storage regions, andwherein the sorting plant is configured;
for each article to be sorted, to use the sorting plan and, as a function of the measured feature value, to select a storage region;
to transport each article at least once on said feed transport path, on a respective said connecting transport path, and on said lead-away transport path, and to temporarily store the article in the selected said storage region;
when the sorting plant has selected a first storage region for a first article and a second storage region for a following, second article, wherein the second storage region, as seen in the transport direction of the storage transport path, comes after the first storage region in the sequence;
to temporarily store the first article in the first storage region;
to transport the second article, using the overtaking transport path, past the first article stored in the first storage region to the second storage region;
so that, after transport, the articles are sorted as a function of the respective feature values thereof in said lead-away transport path.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and a method for sorting articles, in particular flat mail items. The sorting plant has a feed transport path, a lead-away transport path, a plurality of connecting transport paths, a plurality of storage regions, and a sorting plan. Each connecting transport path branches off from the feed transport path and issues into the lead-away transport path. The feed transport path or the lead-away transport path is configured as a storage transport path which contains the storage regions, in the form of a sequence of successive storage regions. The sorting plan assigns a storage region, to each possible feature value of a sorting feature. The sorting plant selects a storage region for each article, using the sorting plan and as a function of the measured feature value. When the sorting plant has selected for a first article a first storage region and for a following second article a second storage region which comes after the first storage region in the sequence, the sorting plant temporarily stores the first article in the first storage region and transports the second article, using the overtaking transport path, past the first article stored in the first storage region to the second storage region.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A sorting plant for the sorting of a plurality of articles, the sorting plant comprising:
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a feed transport path; a lead-away transport path; a plurality of connecting transport paths each branching off from said feed transport path and issuing into said lead-away transport path; a plurality of storage regions, each configured for temporarily storing a plurality of articles to be sorted; and a data storage device with a computer-evaluatable sorting plan; said feed transport path, each said connecting transport path, and said lead-away transport path being configured for transporting the articles in a given transport direction; said sorting plan assigning a storage region, in each case to each possible feature value of a stipulated sorting feature; a measuring device configured for measuring, for each article to be sorted, which feature value the sorting feature assumes for the respective article; wherein one of said feed transport path or said lead-away transport path is configured as a storage transport path and the other of said feed transport path and lead-away transport path is configured as an overtaking transport path; wherein said storage transport path comprises said storage regions, in the form of a sequence of successive storage regions, and wherein the sorting plant is configured; for each article to be sorted, to use the sorting plan and, as a function of the measured feature value, to select a storage region; to transport each article at least once on said feed transport path, on a respective said connecting transport path, and on said lead-away transport path, and to temporarily store the article in the selected said storage region; when the sorting plant has selected a first storage region for a first article and a second storage region for a following, second article, wherein the second storage region, as seen in the transport direction of the storage transport path, comes after the first storage region in the sequence; to temporarily store the first article in the first storage region; to transport the second article, using the overtaking transport path, past the first article stored in the first storage region to the second storage region; so that, after transport, the articles are sorted as a function of the respective feature values thereof in said lead-away transport path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of sorting a plurality of articles, which comprises the following method steps:
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providing a sorting plant and a computer-evaluatable sorting plan, the sorting plant having; a feed transport path; a lead-away transport path; a plurality of connecting transport paths; and a plurality of storage regions; each connecting transport path branching off from the feed transport path and issuing into the lead-away transport path; the sorting plan assigning in each case a storage region, to each possible feature value of a stipulated sorting feature, and for each article to be sorted; measuring which feature value the sorting feature assumes for the respective article; and automatically selecting a storage region, using the sorting plan and as a function of the measured feature value, transporting each article to be sorted on the feed transport path, on a connecting transport path and on the lead-away transport path and temporarily storing each article to be sorted in the selected storage region; resulting in the articles to be sorted as a function of their feature values in the lead-away transport path; thereby using the feed transport path or the lead-away transport path as a storage transport path, and using the other of the feed transport path and the lead-away transport path as an overtaking transport path; wherein the storage transport path contains the storage regions, in the form of a sequence of successive storage regions; storing a plurality of articles simultaneously in at least one storage region; and when a first storage region has been selected for a first article and a second storage region, which comes after the first storage region in the sequence, has been selected for a following second article; temporarily storing the first article in the first storage region; and transporting the second article, using the overtaking transport path, past the first article stored in the first storage region to the second storage region. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification