Driverless transport vehicles or DTVs, which are automatically guided vehicles, are gaining importance in the sorting of cargo. A method for loading a driverless transport vehicle with a cargo item in a transfer point, includes loading the DTV with the cargo item by using a known delivery system during the journey of the DTV. In order to prevent cargo items from falling during loading, a higher-level control sets the delivery speed of the cargo item and the speed of travel before the cargo item is transferred to the transport vehicle, such that the delivery speed component of the transport direction is equal to the speed of travel of the transport vehicle. In this way, the continued use of existing delivery systems such as are known under the term HSI (high speed induction) is possible. A system for loading a driverless transport vehicle is also provided.

A conveyor system with a diverting conveyor belt crossing and intersecting a main conveyor line. The diverting conveyor belt has rollers on its outer side that rotate freely in the main conveying direction of the line. The downstream edge of the diverting conveyor is selectably tilted between a lowered, untilted position level with the main conveyor line and a raised, tilted position above the level of the main conveyor line. When the diverting belt is untilted and stopped, an article passes over the belt's rollers without being diverted. When the diverting belt is tilted and running, it diverts articles off the side of the conveyor line. In another version the rollers include an electrically conductive or magnetic material. A linear-motor stator under the diverting belt selectively actuates the conductive or magnetic rollers to draw undiverted articles across the belt.

Driverless transport vehicles or DTVs, which are automatically guided vehicles, are gaining importance in the sorting of cargo. A method for loading a driverless transport vehicle with a cargo item in a transfer point, includes loading the DTV with the cargo item by using a known delivery system during the journey of the DTV. In order to prevent cargo items from falling during loading, a higher-level control sets the delivery speed of the cargo item and the speed of travel before the cargo item is transferred to the transport vehicle, such that the delivery speed component of the transport direction is equal to the speed of travel of the transport vehicle. In this way, the continued use of existing delivery systems such as are known under the term HSI (high speed induction) is possible. A system for loading a driverless transport vehicle is also provided.

A depositing device for depositing poultry from a pile of one or more stacked crates to a poultry conveyor. A tilting unit is configured for tilting the pile of one or more stacked crates around a tilt axis between a receiving position and a depositing position. A chute is tiltable between the receiving position and the depositing position independently to the tilting unit.

A conveying and sorting apparatus has a plurality of tilting conveyor units in a row in the conveying direction. Each tilting conveyor unit is able to switch between a horizontal conveying orientation and a tilted orientation for ejecting the object being conveyed, by means of gravity, laterally with respect to the conveying direction and has a belt conveyor with a plurality of ridge portions which extend in the width direction on the inside surface, and on the outside surface the ridge portions which extend in the width direction are provided an equivalent intervals in the length direction of the belt. A plurality of recessed grooves which engage with each of the ridge portions on the inside surface of the belt are provided to the peripheral surfaces of a front pulley and a rear pulley of the belt.

In a pullnose belt with a chassis, the chassis is supported on the ground on a fixed side of the belt and projects freely on the opposite free side. Drive and deflector rollers, over which the endless belt runs, are mounted in said chassis. One deflector roller is arranged on the end of wing-shaped support arms projecting from a point of fixing to a horizontally displaceable carriage.

A method and a device for loading a material in layers, in which a first fraction of the material intended to form a first layer is fed to a belt conveyor located above a loading zone, tilting the conveyor about its longitudinal axis such that the entire first fraction is poured into a receiving zone in a receptacle to form a first layer, feeding a subsequent fraction of the material intended to form a subsequent layer to the conveyor, and then tilting the conveyor about its longitudinal axis such that the entire subsequent layer is poured onto the receiving zone to thereby form the subsequent layer.

The invention relates to a package collecting apparatus for a package handling installation for unloading a plurality of packages from a transport supply means of the package handling installation and moving unloaded packages to a transport discharge means of the package handling installation, wherein the package collecting apparatus comprises a collecting element, which has a bearing surface for at least one package during the movement from the transport supply means to the transport discharge means, and at least one lateral element arranged thereon which can be moved between an inoperative position and a working position and which has a further bearing surface for at least one package, wherein, with the lateral element in the working position, the bearing surface of the lateral element adjoins the bearing surface of the collecting element flush, and the package collecting apparatus additionally comprises a coupling device for mechanical releasable coupling to the transport discharge means. The invention additionally relates to a package handling installation comprising such a package collecting apparatus.

A conveying device for converting a serially transported piece goods stream into a parallelly transported piece goods stream. A feed belt conveyor serially feeds the piece goods stream, and a plurality of discharge belt conveyors parallelly discharge the fed piece goods stream. The discharge belt conveyors are assigned to a longitudinal side of the feed belt conveyor. The directions of transport of the discharge belt conveyors are oriented parallel to one another and transversely to the direction of transport of the feed belt conveyor. The discharge belt conveyors are configured as telescopic belt conveyors. The longitudinal side of the upper strand of the feed belt conveyor that is assigned to the discharge belt conveyors is arranged lower than the opposite longitudinal side of the upper strand of the feed belt conveyor.

A conveying and sorting apparatus has a plurality of tilting conveyor units in a row in a conveying direction, and reflective photoelectric sensors. The tilting conveyor units are supported above a frame so as to be able to swing to the left and right about a support shaft which is parallel with the conveying direction, between a horizontal conveying orientation and a tilted orientation for ejecting the object being conveyed, by means of gravity, in the lateral direction with respect to the conveying direction. The reflecting photoelectric sensors detect objects being conveyed which pass between the tilting conveyor units by means of light beams which pass, in the vertical direction, between tilting conveyor units which adjoin one another in the conveying direction. The reflecting photoelectric sensors are attached to a support member which surrounds the periphery of the support shaft and which is supported by the frame.