Article sorting equipment

• US 8,776,982 B2
• Filed: 07/25/2011
• Issued: 07/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daifuku Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Daifuku Company Limited
• Inventors: Onayama, Manabu
• Primary Examiner(s): Singh, Kavel
• Application Number:
  US13/190,119
• Publication Number:
  US 20120031731A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,086 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 198/370.02
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 43/08 Control devices operated by article or material being fed, conveyed or discharged and controlling the discharging devices B65G47/42
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/844 the article-engaging elements being pushers transversally movable on the supporting surface, e.g. pusher-shoes

Abstract

Article sorting equipment of the present invention comprises: a rotation drive device; endless chains rotated on a conveyance route by the rotation drive device; a plurality of slats on which the article is placed and conveyed; and shoes attached to the slats. In the present invention, detected plates are attached to the slats, and a detection device for detecting the detected plates is provided. Based on timing of detecting the detected plates, positions of the slats are obtained.

Claims

1. An article sorting system comprising:

a rotation drive device;

an endless chain rotated along a conveyance route of an article by the rotation drive device;

a plurality of article supporters attached to the endless chain for movement in along the conveyance route by the endless chain, each of the article supporters having band shaped article placement surfaces and at least a first group of the article supporters having a detection plate attached proximate to a first lateral end thereof;

an article lateral pusher attached to the article supporter, the article lateral pusher being movable along the article supporter so as to push an article;

a detection device provided in a moving route of the detected units, the detection device for detecting passage of the detection plates along the conveyance route detecting direction of movement and speed of movement of the plurality of article supporters.

2. The article sorting system according to claim 1, wherein at least a second group of the article supporters are provided with a detection plate proximate a second lateral end thereof.

3. The article sorting system according to claim 2, wherein the first group of the article supporters are alternatingly aligned with the second group of the article supporters in a conveying direction along the conveyance route.

4. The article sorting system according to claim 3, wherein

the detection plates are attached a side of the article supporters opposite the placement surfaces.

5. The article sorting system according to claim 4, further comprising:

a forward guide rail for moving the article lateral pusher forward along the conveying direction;

a movement guide rail for moving the article lateral pusher along the article supporter; and

a unit for distributing the article lateral pusher into one of the forward guide rail and the movement guide rail, wherein the detection device is provided on an upstream side in the conveying direction relative to the unit for distributing.

6. The article sorting system according to claim 5, wherein the detection device includes:

a light-emitting unit for emitting light; and

a light-receiving unit for receiving the light, and the detection plates are detected based on blocking of the light by the detection plates.

7. The article sorting system according to claim 6, wherein the detection device has two light-emitting units and two light-receiving units, and the conveying direction of the article is determined based on timing when the light toward the light-receiving units is blocked.

16. The article sorting system according to claim 2, wherein one of the article supporters is provided with a detection plate attached proximate a first lateral end thereof and another detection plate attached proximate a second lateral end thereof.

17. The article sorting system according to claim 3, wherein one of the article supporters is provided with a detection plate attached proximate a first lateral end thereof and another detection plate attached proximate a second lateral end thereof.

8. An article sorting system comprising:

a rotation drive device;

an endless chain rotated along a conveyance route of an article by the rotation drive device;

a plurality of article supporters attached to the endless chain for movement therewith along the conveyance route, the article supporters having band shape article placement surfaces;

a plurality of article lateral pushers, each of the article lateral pushers being attached to a respective one of the article supporters for movement therewith along the conveyance route, the article lateral pushers being movable in lateral directions transverse to the conveyance route along the article supporter so as to push the article;

a forward guide rail for moving the article lateral pusher forward along a conveying direction along the conveyance route;

a movement guide rail for moving selected ones of the article lateral pushers along the article supporter from a first side to a second side of the article supporters;

a unit for distributing the article lateral pusher into one of the forward guide rail and the movement guide rail;

a confirmation device provided on a downstream side in the conveying direction relative to the movement guide rail, the confirmation device confirming whether or not the selected ones of the article lateral pushers have moved along the article supporters from the first side to the second side of the article supporter and determining a number of the article lateral pushers that have moved from the first side to the second side of the article supporter.

9. The article sorting system according to claim 8, wherein the article lateral pusher includes:

a guide roller provided on the opposite side of the placement surface, the guide roller being moved along the forward guide rail or the movement guide rail; and

a rotation shaft to which the guide roller is attached, and

the confirmation device detects passage of the guide roller or the rotation shaft so as to confirm that the article lateral pusher is moved along the article supporter.

10. The article sorting system according to claim 9, further comprising:

a detection device for detecting the article supporters; and

a unit for determining whether the article lateral pusher is on one end or the other end of the article supporter based on timing when the detection device detects the article supporter and timing when the confirmation device detects the passage of the guide roller or the rotation shaft.

11. The article sorting system according to claim 10, further comprising:

a unit for measuring size of the article, wherein

the unit for distributing selects the forward guide rail or the movement guide rail into which the article lateral pusher is distributed from a position of the article lateral pusher and the size of the article.

12. An article sorting system comprising:

a rotation drive device;

an endless chain rotated along a conveyance route of an article by the rotation drive device;

a plurality of article supporters attached to the endless chain for movement therewith along the conveyance route, the article supporters having a first side that includes band shape article placement surfaces and a second side opposite the article placement surfaces;

an article lateral pusher attached to the article supporter, the article lateral pusher being movable along the article supporter so as to push the article, the article lateral pusher including an upper part located on the first side of the article supporters and a member that extends from the second side of article supporters;

a forward guide rail for moving the article lateral pusher forward along a conveying direction;

a movement guide rail for moving the article lateral pusher along the article supporter in a direction transverse to the conveyance route from a first lateral side of the article supporter to a second lateral side of the article supporter;

a unit for distributing the article lateral pusher into one of the forward guide rail and the movement guide rail; and

a determination device for detecting passage or non-passage of the article lateral pusher from the first lateral side to the second lateral side so as to determine whether or not the article lateral pusher is damaged, the determination device including a light-emitting unit for emitting light and a light-receiving unit for receiving the light, and the member of the article lateral pusher being detected based on blocking of the light by the member.

13. The article sorting system according to claim 12, wherein the member of the article lateral pusher comprises:

a guide roller provided on the opposite side of the placement surface, the guide roller being moved along the forward guide rail or the movement guide rail; and

a rotation shaft to which the guide roller is attached, and

the determination device detects the passage or the non-passage of the guide roller or the rotation shaft so as to determine whether or not the article lateral pusher is damaged.

14. The article sorting system according to claim 13, further comprising:

a detection device, and each of the plurality of article supporters includes a detection plate attached proximate one lateral end thereof, and the detection device is configured to detect movement of the detection plates of each of the article supporters, wherein

the determination device detects the passage or the non-passage of the guide roller or the rotation shaft at timing when the detection device detects one of the detection plates of one of the article supporters so as to determine whether or not the article lateral pusher is damaged.

15. The article sorting system according to claim 14, wherein the article lateral pusher determined to be damaged is excluded from distribution into the one of the forward guide rail and the movement guide rail by the unit for distributing.