A box handling system is disclosed for use in an object processing system. The box handling system includes a box tray including a recessed area for receiving a box, and the recessed area includes a plurality of floor and edge portions for receiving the box that contains objects to be processed.

A turnout for use with two transport sections includes a turnout arm rotatably supported with respect to a first axis of rotation, guided linearly movably in the direction of the first axis, and movable between two end positions. The turnout arm has a deflection surface configured such that, when the turnout arm is in a first end position, a transported item can be transferred between the first and second transport sections via the deflection surface, and the turnout arm is located beneath the transport level in a second end position such that the transported item is movable along the first transport section beyond the turnout. The turnout arm is connected for driving, via a transmission, to a single electric motor such that it is movable back and forth between the first and second end positions solely by being driven by the electric motor in two degrees of freedom.

A spherical bearing assembly includes a shaft extending through an opening of an inner ring, the inner ring having a spherically curved outer surface, a clamping sleeve on the shaft, the clamping sleeve extending through the opening of the inner ring, and an outer ring having an inner surface complementary to the outer surface of the inner ring. The inner ring is mounted in the outer ring with the outer surface of the inner ring slidably supported by the inner surface of the outer ring.

A device for sorting objects, such as used beverage or food containers, that are conveyed on a conveyor. The device includes a first guiding member which is pivotable about a first pivot axis and configured to, when the sorting device is situated in a first sorting position, guide containers in a first sorting direction, a second guiding member which is pivotable about a second pivot axis, a rotatable drive member, a first cam mechanism interconnecting the rotatable drive member with the first guiding member, and a second cam mechanism interconnecting the rotatable drive member with the second guiding member, wherein the device is configured to, upon rotation of the drive member, be actuated between the first sorting position and a second sorting position.

A device for selecting and discarding pucks (2,3) for holding bottles (1) with a support and travel plane (110), a plurality of teeth (120) where the teeth (120) are arranged in the plane (110) to form a routing path towards a discarding path (OUT2) for discarding empty pucks (2) without a bottle (1) and a routing path towards an exit path (OUT3) for outputting full pucks (3) containing a bottle (1).

An installation for sorting containers, in particular medicine bottles, including a star wheel having a multiplicity of pockets. The pockets each accommodate a container, and therefore the container can be transported by virtue of the star wheel being rotated. The installation includes a first and a second exit, wherein the containers can be fed either to the first exit or to the second exit by retracting and extending of a first diverter and a second diverter, which are located opposite one another on a transporting path. The first and the second diverters are designed to be capable of extending and retracting with respect to a base region of the transporting path.

A method of processing objects using a programmable motion device is disclosed. The method includes the steps of providing an input conveyance system by which input bins of objects may be provided to a processing station that includes the programmable motion device that includes an end effector, perceiving at the processing station identifying indicia representative of an identity of a plurality of objects at an input area of the input conveyance system, grasping the an acquired object using the end effector, moving the acquired object toward an identified processing container using the programmable motion device, the identified processing container being associated with the identifying indicia and said identified processing container being provided as one of a plurality of processing containers at the processing station, and providing an output conveyance system in communication with the processing station, by which processing containers that contain processed objects may be provided.

The invention relates to a transport device (1) and a method for distributing a plurality of similarly shaped and dimensioned articles (10).

The transport device (1) comprises an infeed (2) for conveying a plurality of similarly shaped and dimensioned articles (10) in a mass flow; a distribution section (3) downstream of the infeed (2), which distribution section (3), in the conveying direction (FR) of the articles (10), leads into a row transport (4), in which distribution section (3) the articles (10) are conveyed onwards or transported away in at least two separate parallel rows (5).

The transport device (1) also comprises at least one sensor device (6, 8, 11) for detecting and monitoring the mass flow within the infeed (2), within the distribution section (3) or within the rows (5), which at least one sensor device (6, 8, 11) is signal-coupled to a motor-driven actuator (14), which actuator (14) is assigned to the distribution section (3) for influencing a transverse distribution of the articles (10); wherein, in the event of detected gaps, interruptions or in the event of a detected termination of the article flow within the infeed (2) or within the distribution section (3) or within the rows (5), the actuator (14) moves a movable steering device (16), which steering device (16) is adjoining the article flow at least on one side.

A box handling system is disclosed for use in an object processing system. The box handling system includes a box tray including a recessed area for receiving a box, and the recessed area includes a plurality of floor and edge portions for receiving the box that contains objects to be processed.

A sorting apparatus includes a conveyance unit that conveys a plurality of packages and a sorting unit that is configured to sort the plurality of packages on the basis of a delivery destination, a size, and a weight such that the plurality of packages are sorted as first packages and second packages, and the sorting unit is configured to sort the packages lighter and smaller than the second packages as the first packages.