A positive displacement sorter and method of diverting articles includes a conveying surface configured to convey articles in a longitudinal direction and at least one diagonal take-away lane, extending diagonally from the conveying surface to receive articles being diverted from said conveying surface. A plurality of pushers are configured to move together in a lateral direction in order to displace an item on the conveying surface to the diagonal take-away lane. A rotational system is configured to rotate a leading portion of a diverted article in the direction of the take-away lane. A belt drive system is provided for driving live roller conveyors about a curved section of a roller conveyor of the sorter. The drive belt is guided along a single conical drive plane that maintains the orientation of the drive belt relative to the single conical drive plane and limits twisting and stress in the drive belt.

A device for loading, conveying and discharging objects, comprising: a plurality of trays each one of which is intended for carrying an object from a loading position to a discharge position, in which discharge position the object leaves the tray via an unloading section of the tray, a drive system for conveying the trays in a conveyance direction from the loading position to the discharge position, wherein for the purpose of conveying the trays along a path, the drive system comprises a series of linked driving elements, a drive for transferring a drive power onto the drive system, which drive power is required for conveying the trays, and a pusher arm arranged on the tray for by means of pushing away, discharging an object present on the tray, wherein pushing away takes place substantially transverse to the conveyance direction of the tray and wherein at least during conveyance of an object present on the tray the pusher arm is in a first position facing away from the unloading section, and wherein at least for discharging an object present on the tray, the pusher arm moves to a second position in which the pusher arm is near the unloading section of the tray, characterized in that a retaining means is arranged at the unloading section of the at least one tray so as to retain, in a first operation mode, an object present on the at least one tray when the object is moving towards the unloading section as a result of being exposed to dynamic forces during conveyance, and to allow, in a second operation mode, the pusher arm to discharge the object present on the tray by means of pushing away, and an adjusting means is arranged to position the retaining means either in the first or second operation mode.

Method and apparatus for processing poultry parts moving in succession along a path of conveyance. The method provides for an apparatus (1) including at least a conveyor (5) arranged to convey a succession of poultry parts along the path of conveyance downstream of a loading area. The method further includes the step of loading the poultry parts on the conveyor (5) in the loading area, while operating the conveyor to convey the poultry parts in succession. Further the apparatus provided by the method also includes a transfer means (57) in the path of conveyance downstream of the loading area. The transfer means (57) is operated to divide the succession of poultry parts into at least two parallel streams. When coincident with the at least two parallel streams the method performs at least two processing steps in a side-by-side arrangement at a location downstream along the path of conveyance. The processing steps thereby being effective to process each poultry part either identically or differently, while these are divided into the at least two parallel streams of conveyance.

Systems and methods are provided for conveyor operation and maintenance that employ one or both of a smart shoe technology where one or more conveyor shoes incorporate features, such as an RFID tag, and a missing pin detection technology where one or more pin components of conveyor shoes incorporate features, such as an RFID tag, allowing selective wireless tracking and identification capability. A conveyor system comprises a shoe management system allowing interactions directly with one or more RFID readers, which can detect, store and/or monitor information associated with smart shoe and/or missing pin detection RFID tags, where interface between this application and the reader can be implemented via a socket interface. System and method also or optionally provide for unique slat installation and removal.

A belt conveyor having a platform that is movable from a retracted position recessed into a conveyor belt's top surface and an extended position above the top surface. The platform translates across the width of the belt in a slot to carry articles across the width of the belt. Guides in the conveyor below the belt have cam surfaces that raise and lower the carrier and translate it across the belt. The carrier may include a cam-actuated lever to flip articles on the belt or off a side of the belt.

A transport mechanism and a method for transporting objects are disclosed. The transport mechanism includes a transport unit, an adhesive-type conveyor unit, and a push-type transport unit. The adhesive-type conveyor unit receives objects from the transport unit and conveys the received objects to the push-type transport unit. The adhesive-type conveyor unit can generate a vacuum force to adhere the plurality of objects thereon. When the adhesive-type conveyor unit stops conveying the objects carried thereon, the objects adhered to the adhesive-type conveyor unit would block the objects being transported by the transport unit, and when the adhesive-type conveyor unit starts to convey the objects carried thereon to the push-type transport unit, the transport unit would immediately transport more objects to the adhesive-type conveyor unit. Thus, with the adhesive-type conveyor unit, the objects are conveyed to the push-type transport unit and the position of objects is also accurately controlled.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a conveying system for conveying an item to be conveyed. The conveying system comprises a conveying track which comprises a conveying surface on which the item to be conveyed is placeable, wherein the conveying track comprises a coupling surface formed adjacent to the conveying surface, wherein the coupling surface comprises a first coupling profile. The conveying system further comprises at least one conveying drive for driving and/or braking the conveying track, wherein the conveying drive comprises a second coupling profile. The first coupling profile is coupled with the second coupling profile in such a way that the conveying drive is coupled with the conveying track in an interlocking manner for transferring a conveying force.

In a case where an article (A) is advanced along an inclined transport direction (C) by use of an article transverse-pushing body (4) configured to move along a main transport direction (T) and to be movable in a width direction (W) perpendicular to the main transport direction (T), the article transverse-pushing body (4) is accelerated in the width direction (W) in a sorting region (B) and then inertially moved such that the article transverse-pushing body (4) thus moving inertially is brought into contact with the article (A).

A device for loading, conveying and discharging objects, comprising: a plurality of trays each one of which is intended for carrying an object from a loading position to a discharge position, in which discharge position the object leaves the tray via an unloading section of the tray, a drive system for conveying the trays in a conveyance direction from the loading position to the discharge position, wherein for the purpose of conveying the trays along a path, the drive system comprises a series of linked driving elements, a drive for transferring a drive power onto the drive system, which drive power is required for conveying the trays, and a pusher arm arranged on the tray for by means of pushing away, discharging an object present on the tray, wherein pushing away takes place substantially transverse to the conveyance direction of the tray and wherein at least during conveyance of an object present on the tray the pusher arm is in a first position facing away from the unloading section, and wherein at least for discharging an object present on the tray, the pusher arm moves to a second position in which the pusher arm is near the unloading section of the tray, characterized in that a retaining means is arranged at the unloading section of the at least one tray so as to retain, in a first operation mode, an object present on the at least one tray when the object is moving towards the unloading section as a result of being exposed to dynamic forces during conveyance, and to allow, in a second operation mode, the pusher arm to discharge the object present on the tray by means of pushing away, and an adjusting means is arranged to position the retaining means either in the first or second operation mode.

A method of sorting articles with a sorter apparatus and a sorter apparatus having a conveying surface that is adapted to transport articles in a direction of conveyance and a mechanism adapted to displace articles on the conveying surface, the sorter apparatus having an endless web of bodies travelling in an endless loop defining the conveying surface includes a distributed drive system having at least one drive that is adapted to produce to provide force with at least one of the bodies to propel the endless web. A diagnostic device traveling with the web and positioned at one of the bodies of the endless web. The diagnostic device is adapted to monitor operation of the sorter apparatus and includes at least one sensor that is adapted to detect at least one parameter of a proximate drive that is proximate to the at least one sensor, and a controller adapted to receive the at least one parameter from the at least one sensor. A stationary thermal sensor may also monitor the endless loop via another controller including receiving thermal data from the stationary thermal sensor and the another controller correlates the thermal images with a portion of the endless loop.