A conveyor belt system having a belt in contact with an array of actuators that are functional to move the belt in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the belt. The belt actuators can be functional to move individually to form a desired topography of the belt. The conveyor belt system can, thereby, move a workpiece in three dimensions for improved manufacturing and/or warehousing.

A method is disclosed comprising controlling a packaging machine having independently movable objects along a track, moving object volumes of a leading object and a trailing object along a section of a coordinate system, determine a set of minimum separation distances between the object coordinates of the leading and trailing objects over an interval, associating object coordinates of the trailing object and the corresponding minimum separation distances in a first function, and for a selected object coordinate communicated to a selected movable object, determine the corresponding minimum separation distance from the first function, comparing the minimum separation distance from the first function with a resulting separation between said selected object coordinate and an object coordinate of a movable object closest downstream of the selected movable object.

A method is disclosed comprising controlling a packaging machine having independently movable objects along a track, moving object volumes of a leading object and a trailing object along a section of a coordinate system, determine a set of minimum separation distances between the object coordinates of the leading and trailing objects over an interval, associating object coordinates of the trailing object and the corresponding minimum separation distances in a first function, and for a selected object coordinate communicated to a selected movable object, determine the corresponding minimum separation distance from the first function, comparing the minimum separation distance from the first function with a resulting separation between said selected object coordinate and an object coordinate of a movable object closest downstream of the selected movable object.

A conveyance control device executes: a control step of detecting entering to a merging point adjacent area set on adjacent to each merging point on the conveyance route; a detection step of detecting whether there is an obstacle around the carrying cart; a communication step of performing, when the entering to each merging point adjacent area is detected, local wireless communications with another carrying cart by using a common frequency band and a common identification code set to values different among merging points; and a merging point passing control step of starting the communication step when the other carrying cart is detected in the merging point adjacent area in the detection step, and causing passing of a merging point in accordance with a priority set to each entering passage to the merging point, after a handshake with the other carrying cart is successfully performed in the communication step,

A conveyance control device executes: a control step of detecting entering to a merging point adjacent area set on adjacent to each merging point on the conveyance route; a detection step of detecting whether there is an obstacle around the carrying cart; a communication step of performing, when the entering to each merging point adjacent area is detected, local wireless communications with another carrying cart by using a common frequency band and a common identification code set to values different among merging points; and a merging point passing control step of starting the communication step when the other carrying cart is detected in the merging point adjacent area in the detection step, and causing passing of a merging point in accordance with a priority set to each entering passage to the merging point, after a handshake with the other carrying cart is successfully performed in the communication step,

A system and a method for destacking and conveying articles disposed in stacks include a conveying device which is constructed for transporting the articles in a conveying direction. The conveying device is inclined relative to the horizontal at an angle of inclination and has a drive device and adhesion elements. The adhesion elements exert an adhesion force on articles with which they are in contact. The system also includes a controller which is connected to the drive device of the conveying device. In order to provide for more effective destacking for the system and the method, the adhesion elements are connected to the controller and constructed to be activated by the controller.

A system and a method for destacking and conveying articles disposed in stacks include a conveying device which is constructed for transporting the articles in a conveying direction. The conveying device is inclined relative to the horizontal at an angle of inclination and has a drive device and adhesion elements. The adhesion elements exert an adhesion force on articles with which they are in contact. The system also includes a controller which is connected to the drive device of the conveying device. In order to provide for more effective destacking for the system and the method, the adhesion elements are connected to the controller and constructed to be activated by the controller.

A conveyor belt system includes a conveyor belt and a sensor assembly integrated in the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt includes a plurality of wickets, and a plurality of interconnecting rods about which the wickets hinge. The sensor assembly includes a load-bearing member and a sensor fitted in the load-bearing member. The load-bearing member is coupled to two adjacent rods such that a belt tension is sustained between the adjacent rods. A method of using a conveyor belt system include pinging the sensor assembly using a reader with an antenna positioned on a conveyor frame, collecting a signal from the sensor assembly using the reader, and processing the collected data to determine a history of belt tension and to estimate overall belt elongation.

A freight transportation system includes a first freight transportation apparatus configured to travel in a first section, a second freight transportation apparatus configured to travel in a second section, a power reception apparatus configured to receive regenerative power from the first freight transportation apparatus that is configured to travel in the first section, a power transmission apparatus configured to transmit the regenerative power to the second freight transportation apparatus that is configured to travel in the second section, and a control apparatus. The control apparatus is configured to perform control so that the second freight transportation apparatus starts traveling from a start point of the second section at a timing when the first freight transportation apparatus starts traveling from a start point of the first section.

A freight transportation system includes a first freight transportation apparatus configured to travel in a first section, a second freight transportation apparatus configured to travel in a second section, a power reception apparatus configured to receive regenerative power from the first freight transportation apparatus that is configured to travel in the first section, a power transmission apparatus configured to transmit the regenerative power to the second freight transportation apparatus that is configured to travel in the second section, and a control apparatus. The control apparatus is configured to perform control so that the second freight transportation apparatus starts traveling from a start point of the second section at a timing when the first freight transportation apparatus starts traveling from a start point of the first section.