A conveyor for transporting and elevating articles and a method and system for conveying articles up inclines is provided. The conveyor has a conveyor belt and a plurality of support elements extending outward from the article-conveying surface of the conveyor belt advancing upward along the incline. The conveyor may be positioned at an inclined angle relative to the horizontal ground, i.e., between about 5 and 85 or the conveyor can be substantially vertical, i.e., about 90 relative to the horizontal ground. The support elements prevent conveyed articles from sliding down the conveyor belt on the inclined conveyor and carry and hold articles on substantially vertical conveyors. The article-conveying surface of the conveyor belt may provide a low-friction retention surface to articles leaning away from the conveyor belt on the incline.

A conveyor for transporting and elevating articles and a method and system for conveying articles up inclines is provided. The conveyor has a conveyor belt and a plurality of support elements extending outward from the article-conveying surface of the conveyor belt advancing upward along the incline. The conveyor may be positioned at an inclined angle relative to the horizontal ground, i.e., between about 5 and 85 or the conveyor can be substantially vertical, i.e., about 90 relative to the horizontal ground. The support elements prevent conveyed articles from sliding down the conveyor belt on the inclined conveyor and carry and hold articles on substantially vertical conveyors. The article-conveying surface of the conveyor belt may provide a low-friction retention surface to articles leaning away from the conveyor belt on the incline.

An inventory management system includes a first robotic device and a second robotic device. The first robotic device includes a first conveyor removably docked with a first head of the first robotic device. The second robotic device includes a second conveyor removably docked with a second head of the second robotic device. The first robotic device includes a first conveyor controller that communicates conveyor control signals to a second conveyor controller of the second robotic device. The conveyor control signals specify operations to activate the second motor of the second conveyor.

An inventory management system includes a first robotic device and a second robotic device. The first robotic device includes a first conveyor removably docked with a first head of the first robotic device. The second robotic device includes a second conveyor removably docked with a second head of the second robotic device. The first robotic device includes a first conveyor controller that communicates conveyor control signals to a second conveyor controller of the second robotic device. The conveyor control signals specify operations to activate the second motor of the second conveyor.

A belt conveyance device has a configuration where one end of a rotation shaft of an inclinable steering roller that can move an endless belt in the width direction is supported by a first support member that is pivotable on a first pivot axis extending in a first axial line direction intersecting the rotation axis of the steering roller, and the other end of the rotation shaft of the steering roller is supported by a second support member that is pivotable on a second pivot axis that is generally parallel with the rotation axis of another suspending roller and also extends in a direction generally orthogonal to the first axial line.

A conveying apparatus for transporting and for measuring an object includes a sensor having a light transmitter arranged at a conveyor belt and transmits first light beams in the direction of the conveyor belt. The sensor also has a light receiver that is arranged at the conveyor belt and that receives second light beams. The sensor further has an evaluation device for determining a dimension of the object by evaluating the received second light beams. The conveyor belt is an endless conveyor belt that is driven by at least one drive unit and that moves in a main conveying direction. At least one gap is provided in the endless conveyor belt free of interruption, through which gap the first light beams pass, and the first light beams form a scan plane in the at least one gap transversely to the main conveying direction of the conveyor belt.

A conveying apparatus for transporting and for measuring an object includes a sensor having a light transmitter arranged at a conveyor belt and transmits first light beams in the direction of the conveyor belt. The sensor also has a light receiver that is arranged at the conveyor belt and that receives second light beams. The sensor further has an evaluation device for determining a dimension of the object by evaluating the received second light beams. The conveyor belt is an endless conveyor belt that is driven by at least one drive unit and that moves in a main conveying direction. At least one gap is provided in the endless conveyor belt free of interruption, through which gap the first light beams pass, and the first light beams form a scan plane in the at least one gap transversely to the main conveying direction of the conveyor belt.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides a weighing and labeling conveyor for labeling articles, the articles including a first application point at a same point on the article, the conveyor including: a weighing conveyor for determining the weight of the articles; a transport apparatus for transporting the articles; and a labeling system for labeling the articles, the labeling system including three labelers, each labeler including an applicator, each applicator being suitable for applying a label to the first application point on an article while the article is being transported on the transport apparatus. Of the three labelers, during normal operation two labelers are in an active operating state and one labeler is in a passive operating state. During normal operation, the two labelers that are in the active operating state alternately label the first application point of successive articles.

The machine (1) for laying sliced food products (2) in containers (3), comprises: a first conveyor (4) able to convey slices (2) or groups of slices (2) along at least one advancement direction and provided with an end portion (40) from which the slices (2) are released; a second conveyor (5) able to convey containers (3) suitable for receiving one or more slices (2) from the end portion (40) of the first conveyor (4), the second conveyor (5) being placed below the first conveyor (4); and a positioning apparatus (45, 46, 47, 81, 82) for regulating the arrangement of the first and the second conveyor (4, 5) with respect to each other.

The machine (1) further comprises a detection apparatus (6) able to determine the arrangement of the slices (2) or of the groups of slices (2) on the first conveyor (4), and a processing unit (7) connected to the positioning and detection apparatuses and configured to control the activation of the positioning apparatus according to detections carried out by the detection apparatus (6).

A system for treating infectious medical waste is provided that includes a collection infrastructure, handling, and a shredding sub-system for feeding partially processed waste to an oxidizer to eliminate potential airborne infectious waste prior to transforming the medical waste into useful co-products. Waste generators of potentially infectious medical waste include, but is not limited to hospitals, medical offices, dental offices, clinics, laboratories, research facilities, veterinarian offices, and emergency medical service providers. The medical waste is collected from the waste generators, transported to a processing site in sealed containers, and transformed into value-added products including hydrocarbon based gases, hydrocarbon-based liquids, and carbonized material in a system proceeded by a negative pressure region and having as a transformative element an anaerobic carbonizer.