A transfer device having: a frame; a main conveyer unit having a main conveying passage disposed in a fixed planar area; and a sub conveyer unit having a sub conveying passage disposed in a planar area identical to the planar area of the main conveying passage and conveying an object in a direction crossing a conveying direction of the main conveying passage. A lifting and lowering unit lifts one of the conveying passages to a position above the other conveying passage. A regulating unit is provided for allowing linear upward and downward movement of at least one of the conveyer units. The regulating unit is a plate body or a linear body that bends and/or tilts. A bending direction or a tilting direction is aligned with an upward and downward movement direction of the main conveyer unit or the sub conveyer unit.

A conveyor device for conveying articles includes: travel units, trays provided for the respective travel units, and infill plates, each covering a clearance left between the trays. A swing bar supports the infill plate so as to vertically swing the infill plate and is provided at a position shifted by a predetermined distance L in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the travel unit from the position of a coupler connecting the travel unit supporting a plate-tilting shaft and the travel unit traveling ahead, the plate-tilting shaft supporting the infill plate so as to laterally tilt the infill plate.

A conveyor device for conveying articles includes: travel units, trays provided for the respective travel units, and infill plates, each covering a clearance left between the trays. A swing bar supports the infill plate so as to vertically swing the infill plate and is provided at a position shifted by a predetermined distance L in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the travel unit from the position of a coupler connecting the travel unit supporting a plate-tilting shaft and the travel unit traveling ahead, the plate-tilting shaft supporting the infill plate so as to laterally tilt the infill plate.

A transfer device having: a frame; a main conveyer unit having a main conveying passage disposed in a fixed planar area; and a sub conveyer unit having a sub conveying passage disposed in a planar area identical to the planar area of the main conveying passage and conveying an object in a direction crossing a conveying direction of the main conveying passage. A lifting and lowering unit lifts one of the conveying passages to a position above the other conveying passage. A regulating unit is provided for allowing linear upward and downward movement of at least one of the conveyer units. The regulating unit is a plate body or a linear body that bends and/or tilts. A bending direction or a tilting direction is aligned with an upward and downward movement direction of the main conveyer unit or the sub conveyer unit.

To develop a transfer device which has a lower overall height than that of a conventional technology. A transfer device 1 includes a main conveying unit 3 equipped with main conveying bodies 82, a sub conveying unit 2 equipped with sub conveying bodies 14, a lifting and lowering mechanism 4 which lifts and lowers the main conveying unit 3 and the sub conveying unit 2 such that the respective units 3 and 2 are located at different positions in the up-down direction, and a motor 5 which operates the lifting and lowering mechanism 4. A planar position of the motor 5 resides in a planar area overlapping with the main conveying bodies 82 and the sub conveying bodies 14. A position of the motor 5 in the height direction is set such that a part or the whole of the motor 5 is located above a height of a lower end of a rotational track or a traveling track of any one of the conveying bodies 82 and 14 in a lowered state of any one of the conveying units 3 and 2. This structure can reduce the overall height of the transfer device 1 in a state that the motor 5 is disposed within the transfer device 1.

Systems and methods for sorting products using conveyors having multiple inputs and multiple outputs include first product conveyors vertically stacked relative to one another, second product conveyors vertically stacked relative to one another, and transfer conveyors connecting the first and second product conveyors. The transfer conveyors permit products travelling on the first product conveyors to be transferred from the first product conveyors onto the second product conveyors by way of the products being first transferred from the first product conveyors onto the transfer conveyors and then from the transfer conveyors onto the second product conveyors.

A conveying system for intended use in sorting articles and related methods of conveying and sorting articles are disclosed. In one embodiment, the system comprises a first conveyor extending in a first direction and a second conveyor extending in a second direction, with the directions intersecting. A transfer conveyor, such as a transpositor conveyor, may be provided for transferring articles from one of the first conveyors to one of the second conveyors. The system may be used to sort articles delivered from one or more storage locations for distribution, or may instead be used to sort articles for delivery to one or more storage locations. Related aspects and methods are also described.

An order fulfillment system is disclosed in which objects to be collected into orders are provided in output totes. The system includes a primary sortation system that includes a loop conveyance system that moves objects around a closed loop that includes a plurality of primary sortation exits, each of which leads to a location inside the closed loop, and a secondary sortation system that includes a plurality of secondary conveyances, each of which receives an object at one of the plurality of primary sortation exits, and conveys the object to one of a plurality of totes, the plurality of totes being within the closed loop of the primary sortation system.

A transfer table including a first conveyor assembly defining a first plane for conveying articles; a second conveyor assembly defining a second plane for conveying articles; and a raising-lowering mechanism for the first and/or second assemblies, the raising-lowering mechanism including a cam having a track and a pair of rollers respective to the conveyor assemblies and engaging with the track, and the cam is mobile by a pivoting motion between: a first position, in which the first plane is arranged above the second plane; and a second position, in which the second plane is arranged above the first plane.

A transferring assembly for displacing products conveyed by a conveying system from a primary feed direction to a secondary direction, includes: a plurality of transferring units arranged adjacent in the cross direction and adapted to form a conveying plane; each transferring unit including at least one conveying element that rotates around an axis of transversal rotation; at least one activating device of the rotation of the at least one conveying element to drive the angular rotation of the axis of transversal rotation with respect to an axis substantially orthogonal to the primary direction and the axis of transversal rotation. Each transversal rotation axis of each transferring unit is adapted to angularly rotate, with respect to an axis substantially orthogonal to the primary direction and to the axis of transversal rotation driven by the activating device, independently with respect to the transversal rotation axis of the transversally adjacent transferring unit.