Apparatus for unscrambling articles, in particular containers (100) fed randomly to an inlet of said apparatus, comprising: a transport system (20) for transporting the articles fed to the inlet; devices (31;32) for picking and releasing the articles (100), configured to pick up the articles arranged randomly on the transport system (20) and release them to an extraction system (50) with a predefined orientation and/or position; a detection system (60) designed to detect the position and the arrangement of the articles (100) in transit on the transport system and to provide the information for controlling the pick and release devices (30); a unit (500) for processing and controlling the components and the drives of the apparatus; wherein the extraction system comprises: a plane (40; 140) for supporting the containers being extracted (100); means (50; 150) for extracting the articles (100), designed to pick up the articles released by the pick and release devices (31,32) and transport them on the plane (40) towards the outlet (O) of the apparatus; said extraction means comprise a plurality of grippers (50;150), each comprising a pair of jaws (51; 151), each gripper (50; 150) being displaceable along a fixed guide (55) independently of one or more of the other grippers (50; 150); and wherein said guide (55) is arranged inclined with respect to the plane of the transport system (20) and/or the support plane (40; 140) of the extraction system, so as to prevent relative interference between said grippers (50; 150) and the transport plane and/or the support plane (10; 140) of the extraction system.

A transportation path diverter diverts the transportation path of a conveyed article. The transportation path diverter includes an upstream-side lower diverting conveyor, a downstream-side upper diverting conveyor, a downstream-side lower diverting conveyor, a height sensor, and an article sensor. The height sensor detects the article conveyed by the upstream-side lower diverting conveyor, the article having at least a predetermined height. The article sensor detects the article transferred from the upstream-side lower diverting conveyor to the downstream-side lower diverting conveyor. A swing of the downstream-side upper diverting conveyor by a first swinging device is controlled based on the detection of the article by the height sensor and the article sensor.

A first system for determining the relative health of a chick having a first moving platform to support a chick, a first image capture device, a first database having a library of digital images relating to healthy and unhealthy chicks and a computer processor in communication with the image capture device and database. A second system for determining the gender of a chick in eludes a second moving platform, a second image capture device, stimuli directed at the chick to cause the chick to open its wings. The second system also includes a second database having wing patterns of male and female chicks of the breed of the chick on the second moving platform and a second computer processor in communication with the second image capture device and the second database.

A robotic system includes: a control unit configured to: receive an object set including one or more object entries, wherein: the object entries correspond to source objects of an object source, each of the object entries are described by one or more object entry properties; receive sensor information representing one or more detectable object properties for detectable source objects of the object source; calculate an object match probability between the detectable source objects and the object entries based on a property correlation between the detectable object properties of the detectable source objects and the object entry properties of the object entries; generate an object identity approximation for each of the detectable source objects based on a comparison between the object match probability for each of the detectable source objects corresponding to a particular instance of the object entries; select a target object from the detectable source objects; generate an object handling strategy, for implementation by an object handling unit, to transfer the target object from the object source based on the object entry properties of the object entries corresponding to the object identity approximation; update the object set to indicate that the target object corresponding to a specific instance of the object entries has been removed from the object source; and a storage unit 204, coupled to the control unit, configured to store the object set.

Provided is a transport system in which a worker performs maintenance work on a shelf in a maintenance area within a warehouse in which a vehicle area where a transport vehicle travels and the maintenance area where the worker performs the maintenance work are formed separately. A safety device permits an entry of the worker into the maintenance area after the transport vehicle transporting the shelf takes the shelf down within the maintenance area in accordance with a travel instruction from a service device and then the transport vehicle within the maintenance area exits to the vehicle area.

A stocking assistant robot includes a base plate, one or more wheels coupled to the base plate, a first support coupled to the base plate, and a second support coupled to the base plate, wherein the first support is configured to move perpendicular to the base plate and the second support is configured to move perpendicular to the base plate. The stocking assistant robot also includes a first actuator configured to move the first support perpendicular to the base plate, and a second actuator configured to move the second support perpendicular to the base plate. The stocking assistant robot identifies an item, determines a stock location based on the identified item, operates one or more electric motors coupled to the one or more wheels based on the stock location, and moves the first support or the second support perpendicular to the base plate based on the stock location.

Apparatus for unscrambling articles, in particular containers (100) fed randomly to an inlet of said apparatus, comprising: a transport system (20) for transporting the articles fed to the inlet; devices (31;32) for picking and releasing the articles (100), configured to pick up the articles arranged randomly on the transport system (20) and release them to an extraction system (50) with a predefined orientation and/or position; a detection system (60) designed to detect the position and the arrangement of the articles (100) in transit on the transport system and to provide the information for controlling the pick and release devices (30); a unit (500) for processing and controlling the components and the drives of the apparatus; wherein the extraction system comprises: a plane (40;140) for supporting the containers (100); means (50;150) for extracting the articles (100), designed to pick up the articles and transport them on the plane (40) towards the outlet (O) of the apparatus; said extraction means comprise a plurality of grippers (50;150), each comprising a pair of jaws (51;151), each gripper (50;150) being displaceable along a fixed guide (55) independently of one or more of the other grippers (50;150).

A conveyor with a weighing system includes a conveyance unit, a length calculation module, a weighing module, and a controller. The conveyance unit conveys a cargo to move. The length calculation module is arranged at one side of a front end of the conveyance unit to acquire a length of the cargo. The weighing module is arranged at a bottom part of the conveyor. The controller is connected to the length calculation module and the weighing module, such that based on the length acquired by the length calculation module, a weight of the cargo measured by the weighing module is provided. A weighing method of a conveyor is also provided.

This disclosure presents a product display and merchandising device, system and method that may include multiple such product displays and merchandising devices, and a method for dispensing products to customers using such product display and merchandising device. The merchandising system may efficiently utilize storage space and provide an aesthetic display by automatically aligning different products to a front display surface. The merchandising system may use multiple holders or clips on a conveyor belt to hang and display products. A customer may pull and remove a front piece of the products. As the customer pulls the front piece of merchandise or product, the action moves the conveyor belt and brings a next piece of products forward, to the position that the front piece of the product previously occupied. As such, the merchandising system may enable customers to freely remove products and maintain a tidy and neat display of the products.

A drive member for a cage of a spiral conveyor, the drive member comprising a cage-bar and an engagement member. The cage-bar comprises a ridge extending along a longitudinal axis of the cage-bar, the ridge being adapted to mate with an inner side of a conveyor belt. The cage-bar has a conical shape and a driving ridge in a single part with coating to protect against wear. At the belt entrance of the spiral conveyor, the sanitary monopiece direct drive cage-bar have an UHMW (Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight) polyethylene bloc overlapped to help engagement of the belt as specified by manufacturer of the belt. The custom bended shape of the cage-bar allows using several different conical angles to reduce belt tension. The monopiece cage-bar also allows applications where great temperature changes are required because the thermal dilatation will not causes gap in the driving ridge.