A bag conveyance method includes the steps of: causing a holding member to hold a bag bundle including a plurality of bags; delivering the bag bundle in a standing posture from the holding member to a delivery unit; rotating the delivery unit in such a manner that a posture of the bag bundle held by the delivery unit is changed from the standing posture to a lying posture; and conveying the bag bundle in the lying posture from the delivery unit to a supply unit.

A transport apparatus including a rotary transport mechanism (5), which rotationally transports multiple equidistantly installed article holding members (gripper pairs (4)) in one direction along an annular trackway having a pair of parallel portions, and a reciprocating drive mechanism (6), which causes the entire rotary transport mechanism (5) to reciprocate a predetermined distance along the parallel portions. The article holding members are moved at a velocity of travel that is a combination of velocity of the reciprocating motion and velocity of the rotary transport. The velocity of the rotary transport and the velocity of the reciprocating motion are controlled by a control unit (9). The article holding members travel along the parallel portions on both sides (Lanes A and B) in an intermittent manner, each time covering a distance that is an integral multiple of the installation spacing p of the article holding members.

A conveying unit (10) for the suspended transport of transport elements (40) in a conveyor system, in particular a rail-guided (86) conveyor system or a conveyor-chain system, includes a support hook (21) attached to a conveying element (20), in particular a carriage or a conveyor-chain link, a transport element (40), and a suspension hook (41) attached to the transport element, wherein the suspension hook is mounted in a suspended manner in the support hook. The support hook is configured such that the suspension hook can take up two stable positions (61, 62) in the support hook. The suspension hook (41) in a first stable position (61) has been turned through an angle with respect to the suspension hook in a second stable position (62).

A bag in which a content is put and of which a mouth portion is not sealed, is disposed in a substantially horizontal attitude in a takeoff area. A height direction position of an expected hold part of the bag and a height direction position of a hold member are caused to correspond to each other. The hold member is caused to hold the expected hold part of the bag disposed in the takeoff area in a state where the height direction position of the expected hold part of the bag and the height direction position of the hold member correspond to each other. The hold member is moved to transfer the bag from the takeoff area to a delivery area after the hold member holds the expected hold part of the bag disposed in the takeoff area.

A conveyance facility for conveying a bag includes a carrier including a support supporting the bag, and traveling wheels. A conveyance path includes a straight section and a curve section. In the curve section, a pulley rotatable along the curve section and in frictional contact with the support; and a guide rail guiding the traveling wheels are provided. The guide rail includes a rotation guide rail guiding one traveling wheel of a pair of the traveling wheels, and rotating with the pulley; a fixed guide rail guiding another traveling wheel of the pair of traveling wheels, and being provided along the rotation guide rail; and an upper guide rail and a side guide rail guiding the support.

A method for transferring pouches for containing products, includes the steps of gripping two corresponding flaps of a pouch with first and second grippers, and transferring the pouch between a first turntable and a second conveyor. One out of the first turntable and the second conveyor include the first and second grippers for gripping corresponding flaps of the pouch, and the other includes third and fourth grippers for gripping the pouch. The step of transferring the pouch between the first turntable and the second conveyor includes gripping the pouch with the third grippers. The method further includes releasing the first grippers that are gripping the pouch, gripping the pouch with the fourth grippers, and releasing the second grippers that are gripping the pouch.

A package accumulating device is disclosed. The device conveys bag packages to a predetermined position while performing an accumulating operation that aligns the packages such that parts of each of the packages lie on top of parts of adjacent packages in a thickness direction. The device includes first and second conveyors, and a control unit. The first conveyor performs the accumulating operation. The second conveyor conveys a group of the packages aligned by the first conveyor. The control unit performs switching between a first state where a downstream end of the first conveyor and an upstream end of the second conveyor oppose each other when the second conveyor accepts the group of the packages from the first conveyor and a second state where a position of the upstream end of the second conveyor is lower than in the first state with respect to the downstream end of the first conveyor.

An order fulfillment system and method includes a data base that is adapted to store data defining a plurality of customer orders. Each of the customer orders is a single item order having only one particular inventory item assigned to that order or a multiple item order having multiple particular inventory items assigned to that order. An inventory area stores inventory items that are available for fulfilling customer orders, and is responsive to said data base to retrieve particular inventory items from said inventory area that are assigned to customer orders in order to fulfill those orders. A sortation system combines particular inventory items together that make up an order. The sortation system has an automated induct subsystem and a sorter. The induct subsystem receives inventory items from the inventory area and forwards, in responsive to the data base, particular inventory items assigned to multiple-items orders to the sorter to be combined together to make up the multiple-item orders, but not particular inventory items assigned to single item orders. The sorter includes a pouch sorter having individual pouches and an overhead conveyor with tracts that route individual pouches to various destinations. The induct subsystem places a particular inventory item assigned to a multiple item order in an individual pouch and doesn't place a particular inventory items assigned to a single item order in a pouch. In this manner, handling of the particular inventory items for single items orders is separate from the pouch sorter thus reducing handling of inventory items and increasing system through-put.

An inspection apparatus, for inspection of cased goods, includes at least one conveyor, at least one camera for capturing case image data of each of the cased goods advanced with the at least one conveyor past the inspection apparatus, and a processor configured to receive the case image data from the at least one camera. The processor is configured to characterize, from the case image data, a case exterior protrusion of the case good as a case flap in open condition, wherein the processor is configured to resolve the case image data and determine the case exterior protrusion is a coherent planar surface, and is programmed with a parameter array of physical characteristic parameters that describe case flap coherency attributes determinative of the coherent planar surface defining an open case flap condition.

A conveyance facility for conveying a bag includes a carrier including a support supporting the bag, and traveling wheels. A conveyance path includes a straight section and a curve section. In the curve section, a pulley rotatable along the curve section and in frictional contact with the support; and a guide rail guiding the traveling wheels are provided. The guide rail includes a rotation guide rail guiding one traveling wheel of a pair of the traveling wheels, and rotating with the pulley; a fixed guide rail guiding another traveling wheel of the pair of traveling wheels, and being provided along the rotation guide rail; and an upper guide rail and a side guide rail guiding the support.