Conveying systems and methods of associating data with an item transported by a conveying system
First Claim
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1. A method of associating data with an item being transported by a conveying system, the method comprising:
- receiving an item at a first zone of a conveying system;
receiving data associated with the item;
storing the data in a first non-transitory computer-readable storage medium associated with the first zone;
transporting the item to a second zone of the conveying system, wherein transporting the item to a second zone comprises;
(a) querying the second zone via the first zone to determine whether the second zone can accept the item, wherein the second zone determines whether the second zone can accept the item without using the data tag reader,(b) activating a second conveyer of the second zone responsive to the second zone indicating that the second zone can accept the item, and(c) activating a first conveyer of the first zone to move the item to the second conveyer; and
transferring the data stored in the first computer-readable storage medium to a second non-transitory computer-readable storage medium associated with the second zone.
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Abstract
Systems and methods of associating data to an item being transported by a conveying system are disclosed. The item and data associated with the item are received at a first zone of the conveying system. The data is stored in a first computer-readable storage medium associated with the first zone. The item is transported to a second zone of the conveying system, and the data stored in the first computer-readable storage medium is transferred to a second computer-readable storage medium associated with the second zone.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of associating data with an item being transported by a conveying system, the method comprising:
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receiving an item at a first zone of a conveying system; receiving data associated with the item; storing the data in a first non-transitory computer-readable storage medium associated with the first zone; transporting the item to a second zone of the conveying system, wherein transporting the item to a second zone comprises; (a) querying the second zone via the first zone to determine whether the second zone can accept the item, wherein the second zone determines whether the second zone can accept the item without using the data tag reader, (b) activating a second conveyer of the second zone responsive to the second zone indicating that the second zone can accept the item, and (c) activating a first conveyer of the first zone to move the item to the second conveyer; and transferring the data stored in the first computer-readable storage medium to a second non-transitory computer-readable storage medium associated with the second zone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of associating data with an item being transported by a conveying system, the method comprising:
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receiving an item from a first zone of a conveying system at a first adjacent zone of the conveying system; receiving, by a local controller of the first adjacent zone, data associated with the item from a local controller of the first zone of the conveying system, wherein the data comprises an expected value for a property of the item; comparing, by the local controller of the first adjacent zone, the expected value for the property with an actual value for the property; and in response to the comparing satisfying a threshold condition; transporting the item to a second adjacent zone of the conveying system upon receiving notification that the second adjacent zone can accept the item, and transferring the data to a local controller of the second adjacent zone by the local controller of the first adjacent zone. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A conveying system comprising:
a plurality of zones, each comprising; a conveyor section configured to transport an item; a driver configured to drive the conveyor section; a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store data associated with the item; and a controller configured to communicate with a controller of at least one adjacent zone, control the driver to transport the item into the adjacent zone, and control the computer-readable storage medium to transfer the stored data into the computer-readable storage medium of the at least one adjacent zone, wherein the controller of the first zone is configured to control the driver of the first zone to transport the item into the at least one adjacent zone if the controller of the first zone receives notification that the at least one adjacent zone can accept the item and is configured to control the driver of the first zone to transport the item into an alternate adjacent zone if the controller of the first zone receives notification that the at least one adjacent zone cannot accept the item. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
Specification