A board conveyance device and conveyance belt inspection method that enable easy detection of a problem with conveyance belts. The board conveyance device includes: endless conveyance belts on which is set a conveyance path for conveying a board; a board sensor configured to detect the presence of the board at a specified detection position on the conveyance path; and a control section configured to, in a case in which the board is not being conveyed on the conveyance path, move the conveyance belts and determine a problem with the conveyance belts based on a detection result of the board sensor.

A belt conveyor has at least one drum. The drum has a drum axle and a drum body with a drum shell and drum bases. The drum axle is mounted on the two sides by way of two bearings. A force measuring device and/or an accelerometer are arranged on the drum axle on the two sides. The sensors which are arranged on the two sides are preferably arranged between the drum body and the bearing outside the drum body. The sensor signals can be transmitted wirelessly by way of a telecommunications device which is assigned to the sensors.

A system and a method for gently loading, transporting and unloading frangible products using totes is provided. The system includes a loading station at a first location, an unloading station at a second location and a plurality of totes for use in storing the frangible products for transportation from the first location to the second location. The totes include an interior space that is upwardly curved and concave for gently receiving the frangible products therein as they are laterally discharged off of a lateral discharge portion of the reciprocating conveyor. Two or more totes can be sequentially loaded along the lateral discharge portion of the reciprocating conveyor using backpressure caused by accumulation of frangible product along the edge of the lateral discharge portion of the reciprocating conveyor to redirect incoming frangible products towards a downstream section of the lateral discharge portion of the reciprocating conveyor.

Disclosed is a method for addressing/sequencing at least one control component (170 . . . 177) of a group comprising multiple control components (170 . . . 177) of a conveying system (1), said components being linearly interlinked via a daisy-chain selection line (23). The addressing process starts at any point in the chain and continues to the end of the respective branch of said chain. Subsequently, in one of the two branches the numbering of the control components (170 . . . 177) is reversed. Also disclosed is a conveying system (1) on which said method can be carried out.

In order to improve control of a long-stator linear motor, a first measured value is ascertained in a first measurement section and a second measured value is ascertained in a second measurement section, in each case along a transport path in a movement direction. The first measurement section overlaps, in the movement direction, the second measurement section in an overlap region, and the first measured value and the second measured value represent the same actual value of a physical quantity. An operating parameter of the long-stator linear motor determined based on a deviation occurring between the first measured value and the second measured value.

An apparatus and a method convey and sort articles. The apparatus contains a link conveyor, having link elements, pushing-off elements, drive elements, and a control device. The link conveyor runs along a belt-movement line and has along the belt-movement line the link elements which are arranged to follow one after the other and form a conveying surface for the articles. In each case one pushing-off element can be arranged on one of the link elements, above the conveying surface, and therefore the pushing-off element runs along the belt-movement line together with the link element, and the pushing-off element can be moved, and stopped, along a pushing-off-line, which is arranged transversely to the belt-movement line. The drive elements each drive one or more pushing-off elements individually, and therefore the operations of moving and stopping these pushing-off elements, which are arranged to follow one after the other, are independent of one another.

Devices, systems, and methods for determining whether a container is empty in the context of robotic picking solutions. The system includes a plurality of sensors configured to gather container data regarding a container at a first location, wherein the container data includes at least two of weight data related to the container, depth data related to the container, and color sensor data related to the container, and a processor configured to execute instructions stored on a memory to provide a sensor fusion module configured to process the received container data to determine whether the container is empty.

The present application discloses a goods-handling method and a goods-handling system, where the goods-handling method includes steps of: obtaining working state information and handling instructions of a plurality of machines; executing the handling instructions to handle goods according to the working state information; where the working state information includes capacity information of the machines.

A conveyor device for the automated conveyance of individual products in a direction of conveyance, the conveyor device being configured as a hanging conveyor device, comprises several adapters each provided with an adapter identification means for accommodating the individual products, wherein each individual product comprises an individual product transponder, a transponder reading unit for reading individual product data of the individual product transponder, an adapter data reading unit for reading adapter data of the adapter identification means, a control unit which is in signal communication with the transponder reading unit and the adapter data reading unit for linking the individual product data read by means of the transponder reading unit with the adapter data read by means of the adapter data reading unit.

A method for the partial emptying of buoyant objects, which are stored in a loading aid having at least one opening is provided. A processing weight to be partially emptied is established. A fill weight is determined of the objects in the loading aid via a first weighing. The loading aid is at least partially immersed in a liquid bath. The loading aid is positioned or moved for a retention time predefined as a function of the fill weight and of the processing weight in the bath such that there is an on-average constant flow relative to the loading aid and such that the opening is disposed at least partially below a fill level surface of the bath, whereby the objects are taken along by the flow. The at least partially emptied loading aid is lifted out of the bath after the retention time has elapsed.