An assembly line grow pod includes a seeding region, a harvesting region, a track that extends between the seeding region and the harvesting region, a cart including a tray for holding plant matter, and a wheel coupled to the tray, where the wheel is engaged with the track, and a weight sensor positioned on the cart or the track, where the weight sensor is positioned to detect a weight of the plant matter positioned within the cart.

The number of articles in a weighing pan of a multihead weigher is to be determined. A set of weight distributions including a first weight distribution and a second weight distribution are defined. The first weight distribution representing a weight distribution of a first integer number of articles, and the second weight distribution representing a weight distribution of a second integer number of articles. The weight of the articles in the weighing pan is compared to the first weight distribution, and the second weight distribution respectively—the number of articles corresponding to the first integer number when the weight being inside said first weight distribution, and to the second integer number when the weight being inside said second weight distribution.

The number of articles in a weighing pan of a multihead weigher is to be determined. A set of weight distributions including a first weight distribution and a second weight distribution are defined. The first weight distribution representing a weight distribution of a first integer number of articles, and the second weight distribution representing a weight distribution of a second integer number of articles. The weight of the articles in the weighing pan is compared to the first weight distribution, and the second weight distribution respectively—the number of articles corresponding to the first integer number when the weight being inside said first weight distribution, and to the second integer number when the weight being inside said second weight distribution.

A linear feeder is provided that vibrates a trough to transport articles on the trough. The trough has a guiding protrusion at an intermediate position on a bottom surface of a transport path in a direction of its width. The guiding protrusion is progressively greater in lateral width in a direction of transport of the articles, and transport passages progressively smaller in width are accordingly formed at sides of the guiding protrusion.

A combination weighing apparatus includes a retaining hopper that retains an article and supplies the retained article onto a transport path. The retaining hopper has a coupling portion adapted to be inserted in along the support rails and pulled off from support rails disposed in a pair. The retaining hopper is thus supportable by the support rails and is readily mounted to and dismounted from the apparatus without using any tool for cleaning and other purposes.

An article transport feeder is equipped with an article transporter removably attachable to a vibratory head of a vibration mechanism. The article transport feeder is also equipped with a fastening unit having an operation lever. The fastening unit rotates the operation lever to retainably engage the article transporter with the vibratory head by fastening. The article transport feeder is further equipped with a movable coupling member having a spindle elastically deformable. The movable coupling member is coupleable to the fastening unit and allowed to move along with the rotation of the operation lever. The spindle is elastically deformable by moving the movable coupling member along with the rotation of the operation lever of the fastening unit to elastically retain the engagement of the article transporter with the vibratory head.

Supply chain systems and methods are disclosed for monitoring fluid levels in liquid containers, such as kegs. Embodiments include sensors that fit within a keg's false bottom, measure the weight of the keg, and transmit the weight information to a computer database via a wireless network. Other embodiments include an RFID device with information about a characteristic of the liquid within a keg (such as brand and/or type of beer) that may be attached to the keg and paired with the sensor so the sensor can transmit information about the characteristic of the liquid in the keg. In alternate embodiments, the sensor's transmitter is short range and an uplink/gateway is used to receive information from the sensor and relay that sensor's information to a broader wireless network. Multiple containers in close proximity may each be fitted with an RFID device and sensor and communicate their individual information to the database.

Supply chain systems and methods are disclosed for monitoring fluid levels in liquid containers, such as kegs. Embodiments include sensors that fit within a keg's false bottom, measure the weight of the keg, and transmit the weight information to a computer database via a wireless network. Other embodiments include an RFID device with information about a characteristic of the liquid within a keg (such as brand and/or type of beer) that may be attached to the keg and paired with the sensor so the sensor can transmit information about the characteristic of the liquid in the keg. In alternate embodiments, the sensor's transmitter is short range and an uplink/gateway is used to receive information from the sensor and relay that sensor's information to a broader wireless network. Multiple containers in close proximity may each be fitted with an RFID device and sensor and communicate their individual information to the database.

In an article processing apparatus (1), a plurality of hoppers (12) are disposed in a circular shape and each of the plurality of hoppers (12) causes an article (100) received from an upstream side to temporarily stay and then discharges the article (100) toward a discharge opening (20) on a downstream side. Each of the hoppers (12) includes: a body portion (12A); a slide portion (12B) provided on a downstream side of the body portion (12A), and having a slide surface (120) extending continuously from the body portion (12A); and a gate (12C) provided on the body portion (12A) to switch between a first state where the gate (12C) causes the article (100) to stay in the body portion (12A) and a second state where the gate (12C) releases the staying of the article (100) to cause the article (100) to slide down from the body portion (12A). The slide portion (12B) has a length (L) or an angle (A) with respect to a horizontal direction (H) of a path along which the article (100) slides down the slide surface (120), takes off from a downstream end portion (120E) of the slide portion (12B), freely falls in a space (S) where the slide surface (120) does not exist, and then reaches the discharge opening (20), in the second state.

The present invention deals with a filling device (1) and a weighing device, wherein at least one 3D sensor (2) is provided to capture at least a partial area of the transport surface, virtually dividing the detected area into a plurality of sectors (3) and zones (4). The at least one sensor (2) is adapted to determine a distance to the measuring point as well as a respective angle of incidence at which the measuring point of the detected surface is measured, The filling device (1) is adapted to make a division into sectors (3) and zones (4) dynamically as a function of at least one influencing variable (E) to derive relevant information for the regulation of the control parameters therefrom in order to achieve a controlled product distribution.