High speed baggage diverter
DCFirst Claim
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1. A diverter assembly comprising:
- a generally horizontal conveying surface;
a pair of flipper assemblies on opposite sides of said conveying surface that are collinear in an actuated position;
a driven diverting surface defined on each flipper assembly; and
an actuator for substantially concurrently actuating said flipper assemblies to said actuated position and driving said driven diverting surfaces wherein an article on said conveying surface is diverted wherein said actuator extends downwardly from said horizontal conveying surface no more than 18 inches.
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Abstract
A diverter assembly according to the present invention includes a generally horizontal conveying surface, a pair of flipper assemblies, and an actuator for substantially concurrently actuating the flipper assemblies to an actuated position whereby the flipper assemblies are collinear. A driven diverting surface is defined on each flipper assembly wherein an article on the conveying surface is diverted when the article contacts one of the flipper assemblies when the flipper assembly is in its actuated position.
23 Citations
88 Claims
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1. A diverter assembly comprising:
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a generally horizontal conveying surface;
a pair of flipper assemblies on opposite sides of said conveying surface that are collinear in an actuated position;
a driven diverting surface defined on each flipper assembly; and
an actuator for substantially concurrently actuating said flipper assemblies to said actuated position and driving said driven diverting surfaces wherein an article on said conveying surface is diverted wherein said actuator extends downwardly from said horizontal conveying surface no more than 18 inches. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A diverter assembly comprising:
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a generally horizontal conveying surface;
a pair of flipper assemblies on opposite sides of said conveying surface that are collinear in an actuated position;
a driven diverting surface defined on each flipper assembly; and
an actuator for substantially concurrently actuating said flipper assemblies to said actuated position and driving said driven diverting surfaces wherein an article on said conveying surface is diverted, wherein said actuator comprises a motor and a clutch selectively connecting said motor with said flipper assemblies. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of diverting articles comprising:
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conveying articles in a generally horizontal direction at a conveying speed, said conveying including conveying articles on a conveying surface;
positioning a diverting surface at an angle to the direction of travel of an article to horizontally diverted divert the article in a diverting direction; and
driving said diverting surface at a diverting speed greater than said conveying speed wherein a diverted article substantially maintains the same magnitude of speed in the conveying direction when diverted, wherein said diverting surface includes at least two surface portions on opposite sides of said conveying surface which are selectively positionable in a collinear fashion to divert articles. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A diverter assembly comprising:
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a conveying surface having a conveying direction and for conveying an article at a convoying conveying speed;
a pair of arms at opposite sides of said convoying conveying surface, said arms mounted for pivotal movement between a non-diverting position wherein said arms are adjacent said conveying surface and a diverting position wherein said arms are pivoted across said conveying surface;
a driven diverting surface defined at each of said arms; and
a drive assembly for selectively substantially concurrently moving said arms between said diverting position and said non-diverting position wherein an article conveyed on said conveying surface is diverted in a diverting direction when the article contacts at least one of said arms when said at least one arm is in said diverting position, and said drive assembly driving said driven diverting surfaces and adapted to decouple movement of said arms from the driving of said driven diverting surfaces. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 37)
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29. A diverter assembly comprising:
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a conveying surface having a conveying direction and for conveying an article at a conveying speed;
a pair of arms at opposite sides of said conveying surface, said arms mounted for pivotal movement between a non-diverting position wherein said arms are adjacent said conveying surface and a diverting position wherein said arms are pivoted across said conveying surface;
a driven diverting surface defined at each of said arms, wherein at least one of said driven diverting surfaces comprises a drive belt, said drive belt being driven by a driven roller; and
a drive assembly for selectively substantially concurrently moving said arms between said diverting position and said non-diverting position wherein an article conveyed on said conveying surface is diverted in a diverting direction when the article contacts at least one of said arms when said at least one arm is in said diverting position, and said drive assembly driving said driven diverting surfaces at a speed approximately equal to the conveying speed divided by a cosine of an angle between said conveying direction and said diverting direction, said driven roller driven by said drive assembly, said driven roller including a driven axis about which said driven roller is driven, each of said arms pivoting about a pivot axis when pivoting between said non-diverting position and said diverting position, wherein said drive assembly is adapted to de-couple movement of said drive belts about said driven axes from movement of said arms about said pivot axes. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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38. A diverter assembly comprising:
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a conveyor section having a generally horizontal conveying surface;
a pair of arms at opposed sides of said conveying surface, said arms mounted for pivotal movement between a non-diverting position and a diverting position wherein at least a portion of said arms are pivoted across said conveying surface, and said conveying surface adapted to be selectively lowered at said arms when said arms are in said diverting position; and
a drive assembly for selectively moving said arms between said diverting position and said non-diverting position wherein an article conveyed on said conveying surface is diverted in a diverting direction when the article contacts at least one of said arms when said at least one arm is in said diverting position. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 62)
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44. A diverter assembly comprising:
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a conveyor section having a generally horizontal conveying surface;
a pair of arms at opposed sides of said conveying surface, said arms mounted for pivotal movement between a non-diverting position and a diverting position wherein at least a portion of said arms are pivoted across said conveying surface, and said conveying surface adapted to be selectively lowered at said arms when said arms are in said diverting position;
a drive assembly for selectively moving said arms between said diverting position and said non-diverting position wherein an article conveyed on said conveying surface is diverted in a diverting direction when the article contacts at least one of said arms when said at least one arm is in said diverting position; and
a driven diverting surface defined at each of said arms, said diverting surfaces comprise driven belts, wherein said driven belts are driven at a speed equal to a conveying speed of said conveying surface divided by a cosine of an angle between said conveying direction and said diverting direction, wherein said drive assembly is adapted to decouple movement of said driven belt from movement of said arms.
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45. A diverter assembly comprising:
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a generally horizontal conveying surface;
a pair of arms on opposed sides of said conveying surface, said arms mounted for pivotal movement between a non-diverting position wherein said arms are adjacent said conveying surface and a diverting position wherein at least a portion of said arms are pivoted across said conveying surface;
a driven diverting surface defined at each of said arms, and said driven diverting surface having a vertical height of at least 12 inches; and
a drive assembly for selectively moving said arms between said diverting position and said non-diverting position wherein an article conveyed on said conveying surface is diverted in a diverting direction when the article contacts at least one of said arms when said at least one arm is in said diverting position, wherein said drive assembly drives said driven diverting surfaces and said drive assembly is adapted to decouple movement of said driven diverting surfaces from movement of said arms. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48)
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49. A method of selectively diverting user-packed luggage to particular destinations, wherein the luggage may be made up of various sizes and configurations up to a maximum dimension, said method comprising:
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providing a pair of flipper assemblies at substantially each of said destinations, wherein each of said pair of flipper assemblies comprises a driven diverting surface having a height of at least one-half of said maximum dimension;
providing an actuator;
passing the luggage past the flipper assemblies in sequence; and
actuating a respective pair of said flipper assemblies with the actuator at a desired destination for a selected luggage item; and
driving the driven diverting surfaces of the respective pair of flipper assemblies with the actuator. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63)
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64. A flipper assembly in combination with a conveyor, said flipper assembly comprising:
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an arm, said arm having a frame with a vertical extent and including a belt bed;
a first roller mounted at one end of said frame;
a second roller mounted at an opposed end of said frame;
a driven belt, said belt extending around said rollers and extending across said vertical extent of said frame, said bed and said belt being configured to retain said belt on said arm, said belt bed providing lateral support for said belt, said belt bed extending substantially from said first roller to said second roller; and
a driver, said arm including a pivot axis and being selectively driven by said driver about said pivot axis to move between a non-diverting position adjacent said conveyor and a diverting position wherein said arm is extended at least partially across said conveyor for selectively diverting an article conveyed on said conveyor. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68)
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69. A flipper assembly in combination with a conveyor, said flipper assembly comprising:
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an arm, said arm having a frame with a vertical extent and including a belt bed;
a first roller mounted at one end of said frame;
a second roller mounted at an opposed end of said frame;
a driven belt, said belt extending around said rollers and extending across said vertical extent of said frame, said bed and said belt being configured to retain said belt on said arm; and
a driver, said arm including a pivot axis and being selectively driven by said driver about said pivot axis to move between a non-diverting position adjacent said conveyor and a diverting position wherein said arm is extended at least partially across said conveyor for selectively diverting an article conveyed on said conveyor, wherein said one of said rollers comprises a driven roller, said driven roller driving said belt about a drive axis, wherein said driver drives said driven roller.
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70. A flipper assembly in combination with a conveyor, said flipper assembly comprising:
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an arm, said arm having a frame with a vertical extent and including a belt bed;
a first roller mounted at one end of said frame;
a second roller mounted at an opposed end of said frame;
a driven belt, said belt extending around said rollers and extending across said vertical extent of said frame, said bed and said belt being configured to retain said belt on said arm; and
a driver, said arm including a pivot axis and being selectively driven by said driver about said pivot axis to move between a non-diverting position adjacent said conveyor and a diverting position wherein said arm is extended at least partially across said conveyor for selectively diverting an article conveyed on said conveyor, wherein said conveyor has a conveying surface with a conveying speed for conveying the article at a forward speed, said driven diverting surface being driven at a speed to maintain the forward speed of the article generally constant when diverting the article with said flipper assembly. - View Dependent Claims (71)
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72. A method of selectively diverting user-packed luggage to a particular destination, wherein the luggage may be made up of various sizes and configurations articles up to a maximum dimension, said method comprising:
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conveying the luggage in a conveying direction at a conveying speed;
providing a flipper assembly, wherein the flipper assembly comprises a driven diverting surface having a height of at least one-half of the maximum dimension; and
selectively actuating the flipper assembly to move the diverting surface to form an angle with the conveying direction for diverting a selected piece of luggage from the luggage including laterally supporting the diverting surface substantially across the height of the diverting surface.
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73. A method of selectively diverting user-packed luggage to a particular destination, wherein the luggage may be made up of various sizes and configurations articles up to a maximum dimension, said method comprising:
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conveying the luggage in a conveying direction at a conveying speed;
providing a flipper assembly, wherein the flipper assembly comprises a driven diverting surface having a height of at least one-half of the maximum dimension; and
selectively actuating the flipper assembly to move the diverting surface to form an angle with the conveying direction for diverting a selected piece of luggage from the luggage, wherein said actuating includes driving the driven diverting surface at a speed greater than the conveying speed whereby the speed of the selected piece of luggage is substantially unchanged when diverted by the flipper assembly. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76)
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77. A method of selectively diverting user-packed luggage to a particular destination wherein the luggage may be made up of various sized and configured articles, each article having a center of gravity up to a maximum center-of-gravity height, said method comprising:
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conveying the luggage in a conveying direction at a conveying speed;
providing a flipper assembly wherein the flipper assembly comprises a driven diverting surface having a height of at least the maximum center-of-gravity height;
selectively actuating the flipper assembly to move the diverting surface to form an angle with the conveying direction for diverting a selected piece of luggage from the luggage including laterally supporting the diverting surface substantially across the height of the diverting surface; and
driving the driven diverting surface of the flipper assembly greater than the conveying speed.
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78. A method of selectively diverting user-packed luggage to a particular destination wherein the luggage may be made up of various sized and configured articles, each article having a center-of-gravity up to a maximum center-of-gravity height, said method comprising:
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conveying the luggage in a conveying direction at a conveying speed;
providing a flipper assembly wherein the flipper assembly comprises a driven diverting surface having a height of at least the maximum center-of-gravity height;
selectively actuating the flipper assembly to move the diverting surface to form an angle with the conveying direction for diverting a selected piece of luggage from the luggage; and
driving the driven diverting surface of the flipper assembly greater than the conveying speed, whereby the speed of the selected piece of luggage is substantially constant when diverted by the flipper assembly. - View Dependent Claims (79, 80)
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81. A method of selectively diverting user-packed luggage to a particular destination wherein the luggage may be made up of various sized and configured articles, each article having a center of gravity up to a maximum center-of-gravity height, said method comprising:
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conveying the luggage in a conveying direction at a conveying speed;
providing a flipper assembly wherein the flipper assembly comprises a driven diverting surface having a height of at least the maximum center-of-gravity height;
selectively actuating the flipper assembly to move the diverting surface to form an angle with the conveying direction for diverting a selected piece of luggage from the luggage; and
driving the driven diverting surface of the flipper assembly greater than the conveying speed, wherein said driving the driven diverting surface comprises driving the driven diverting surface at a speed approximately equal to the conveying speed divided by the cosine of the angle between the diverting surface and the conveying direction.
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82. A flipper assembly in combination with a conveyor, said conveyor having a conveyor belt defining a conveying surface, and said conveyor belt being driven at a conveying speed in a conveying direction, said flipper assembly comprising:
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an arm mounted for pivotal movement across said conveying surface of said conveyor belt between a non-diverting position and a diverting position wherein said arm forms an angle with respect to said conveying direction in a range from about 20°
to 60°
for selectively diverting an article conveyed on said conveyor;
a driven diverting surface provided at said arm, said driven diverting surface being driven at a speed greater than said conveying speed, said arm having a frame with a vertical extent and including a belt bed extending substantially across said vertical extent of said frame, said belt bed providing lateral support for said driven diverting surface. - View Dependent Claims (83, 84, 85, 88)
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86. A flipper assembly in combination with a conveyor, said conveyor having a conveyor belt defining a conveying surface, and said conveyor belt being driven at a conveying speed in a conveying direction, said flipper assembly comprising:
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an arm mounted for pivotal movement across said conveying surface of said conveyor belt between a non-diverting position and a diverting position wherein said arm forms an angle with respect to said conveying direction in a range from about 20°
to 60°
for selectively diverting an article conveyed on said conveyor;
a driven diverting surface provided at said arm, said driven diverting surface being driven at a speed greater than said conveying speed, wherein said driven diverting surface is driven at a speed approximately equal to said conveying speed divided by a cosine of the angle between said conveying direction and said arm.
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87. A flipper assembly in combination with a conveyor, said conveyor having a conveyor belt defining a conveying surface, and said conveyor belt being driven at a conveying speed in a conveying direction, said flipper assembly comprising:
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an arm mounted for pivotal movement across said conveying surface of said conveyor belt between a non-diverting position and a diverting position wherein said arm forms an angle with respect to said conveying direction in a range from about 20°
to 60°
for selectively diverting an article conveyed on said conveyor;
a driven diverting surface provided at said arm, said driven diverting surface being driven at a speed greater than said conveying speed;
a driver, said driver pivoting said arm between said non-diverting position and said diverting position, wherein said driver drives said driven diverting surface.
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Specification