A piece picking system includes at least one main conveyor unit and a plurality of sorting modules. The at least one main conveyor unit and the plurality of sorting modules are arranged crosswise in a matrix, and the at least one main conveyor unit is located above or below the plurality of sorting modules. A plurality of picking stations are arranged at a side of each main conveyor unit, and are adjacent to each of the sorting modules. The main conveyor unit is configured to convey a first container carrying an item to be picked. The picking station is configured to pick the item in a required quantity from the first container conveyed by the main conveyor unit according to an order requirement. The sorting module is configured to sort the item picked by the adjacent picking station. The system aggregates the sorting capabilities of the plurality of sorting modules.

A piece picking system includes at least one main conveyor unit and a plurality of sorting modules. The at least one main conveyor unit and the plurality of sorting modules are arranged crosswise in a matrix, and the at least one main conveyor unit is located above or below the plurality of sorting modules. A plurality of picking stations are arranged at a side of each main conveyor unit, and are adjacent to each of the sorting modules. The main conveyor unit is configured to convey a first container carrying an item to be picked. The picking station is configured to pick the item in a required quantity from the first container conveyed by the main conveyor unit according to an order requirement. The sorting module is configured to sort the item picked by the adjacent picking station. The system aggregates the sorting capabilities of the plurality of sorting modules.

The invention relates to a method for determining an access right to an entity of a conveyor system, wherein it is: received data comprising data representing an identity of a wireless key and data representing a location of the wireless key; detected that the wireless key resides in a predefined location; identified the conveyor system and the entity on a basis of data representing the predefined location; determined status of an identified conveyor system; determined an access right with the wireless key to the entity; and generated a control signal to cause one of the following: (i) a grant of an access to the entity, (ii) a refusal of an access to the entity. The invention also relates to a network node, a computer program product and to a conveyor system.

A side-by-side parcel separation method is provided. The side-by-side parcel separation method includes the following steps: dispersion: dispersing, by an angle difference existing in a conveying direction, parcels arriving at a dispersion device from a conveying line, wherein a gap is reserved between adjacent parcels; detection and recognition: photographing and recognizing detected parcels by a visual recognition device to obtain a three-dimensional size and real-time position data of each parcel; separation: applying different conveying speeds to the adjacent parcels by a separation device, arriving, by a first parcel-recognized to be at a front position, at a side-approaching device at a fast speed, and repeating the foregoing steps; and single-row queuing: forwardly conveying, in a single-row queuing mode, different parcels arriving at the side-approaching device in sequence. A separation device for implementing the side-by-side parcel separation method is also provided.

A side-by-side parcel separation method is provided. The side-by-side parcel separation method includes the following steps: dispersion: dispersing, by an angle difference existing in a conveying direction, parcels arriving at a dispersion device from a conveying line, wherein a gap is reserved between adjacent parcels; detection and recognition: photographing and recognizing detected parcels by a visual recognition device to obtain a three-dimensional size and real-time position data of each parcel; separation: applying different conveying speeds to the adjacent parcels by a separation device, arriving, by a first parcel-recognized to be at a front position, at a side-approaching device at a fast speed, and repeating the foregoing steps; and single-row queuing: forwardly conveying, in a single-row queuing mode, different parcels arriving at the side-approaching device in sequence. A separation device for implementing the side-by-side parcel separation method is also provided.

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for automated robotic sortation. In one embodiment, an example system may include a first robotic arm configured to grasp a moving object from a conveyor while the conveyor is in motion, a camera system configured to image objects moving on the conveyor, and a first scanner configured to scan machine-readable codes on objects moving on the conveyor. The system may be configured to sort objects from the conveyor using the first robotic arm based at least in part on an object destination.

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for automated robotic sortation. In one embodiment, an example system may include a first robotic arm configured to grasp a moving object from a conveyor while the conveyor is in motion, a camera system configured to image objects moving on the conveyor, and a first scanner configured to scan machine-readable codes on objects moving on the conveyor. The system may be configured to sort objects from the conveyor using the first robotic arm based at least in part on an object destination.

A system includes an article supply location, wherein the article supply location includes a plurality of articles to be sorted, first and second transport vehicles, each having a first position in which an article is stowed about the vehicle and a second position in which the article is deposited into a proximal container. And a control system. The control system is configured to receive an order for a plurality of disparate articles, determine one destination container of a plurality of destination containers to direct the transport vehicle to deposit a selected article, direct the first transport vehicle to transport a selected article to the destination container and deposit the article by manipulation of the first transport vehicle from the first position to the second position for deposit of the selected article in the destination container.

A system includes an article supply location, wherein the article supply location includes a plurality of articles to be sorted, first and second transport vehicles, each having a first position in which an article is stowed about the vehicle and a second position in which the article is deposited into a proximal container. And a control system. The control system is configured to receive an order for a plurality of disparate articles, determine one destination container of a plurality of destination containers to direct the transport vehicle to deposit a selected article, direct the first transport vehicle to transport a selected article to the destination container and deposit the article by manipulation of the first transport vehicle from the first position to the second position for deposit of the selected article in the destination container.

The invention relates to a method for order picking of items at a picking station, wherein the source containers (5) are transported to a retrieval position (33) in an arbitrary sequence, and the target containers (27) are provided in a sorting buffer (36) with buffer positions (39) ahead of a single loading position (35). A first target container is transported back into the sorting buffer for processing of different order lines after placement of an item for a first order line, and is temporarily buffered at a sorting position (42) until a source container with an item for a second order line is conveyed onward into a buffer track section (23) provided upstream of the retrieval position. A second target container is transported back into the sorting buffer for processing of different order lines after placement of an item for a first order line, and is moved via a second sorting position to one of the buffer positions and subsequently to the loading position if a source container with an item for a second order line has already been transported into the buffer track section. In addition, the invention relates to a picking station.