System and methods for manipulating and sorting of objects being moved along a conveyor are disclosed, whereby control of the object is achieved through the application of one or more of vacuum, impaling, or mechanical grasping. One embodiment is directed to a robotic arm and vision detection system operable for detecting a target object to be grasped from a stream of objects being moved on a conveyor, and moving a suction head into position over the target object that has been detected on the conveyor, the suction head having a flexible cup section disposed at a distal end thereof, the vacuum item pick-up system/method using high subsonic air flow (e.g., on the order of 60 scfm or more) through a suction cup having a flow opening area large enough that an airflow of 60 scfm does not result in an airspeed exceeding Mach 0.2 under standard conditions of temperature and pressure, and further having a flow opening area whose ratio to cup opening area falls between 0.36 and 1.44 for applying a desired vacuum suction force for grasping the target object. Either as a primary grasping mechanism, or as an optional supplemental grasping mechanism, a piercing mechanism may be inserted into the object and used to manipulate the object in space. Alternate systems/methods for manipulating and sorting objects via hitting, flicking, or pushing are also disclosed.

System and methods for manipulating and sorting of objects being moved along a conveyor are disclosed, whereby control of the object is achieved through the application of one or more of vacuum, impaling, or mechanical grasping. One embodiment is directed to a robotic arm and vision detection system operable for detecting a target object to be grasped from a stream of objects being moved on a conveyor, and moving a suction head into position over the target object that has been detected on the conveyor, the suction head having a flexible cup section disposed at a distal end thereof, the vacuum item pick-up system/method using high subsonic air flow (e.g., on the order of 60 scfm or more) through a suction cup having a flow opening area large enough that an airflow of 60 scfm does not result in an airspeed exceeding Mach 0.2 under standard conditions of temperature and pressure, and further having a flow opening area whose ratio to cup opening area falls between 0.36 and 1.44 for applying a desired vacuum suction force for grasping the target object. Either as a primary grasping mechanism, or as an optional supplemental grasping mechanism, a piercing mechanism may be inserted into the object and used to manipulate the object in space. Alternate systems/methods for manipulating and sorting objects via hitting, flicking, or pushing are also disclosed.

System and methods for manipulating and sorting of objects being moved along a conveyor are disclosed, whereby control of the object is achieved through the application of one or more of vacuum, impaling, or mechanical grasping. One embodiment is directed to a robotic arm and vision detection system operable for detecting a target object to be grasped from a stream of objects being moved on a conveyor, and moving a suction head into position over the target object that has been detected on the conveyor, the suction head having a flexible cup section disposed at a distal end thereof, the vacuum item pick-up system/method using high subsonic air flow (e.g., on the order of 60 scfm or more) through a suction cup having a flow opening area large enough that an airflow of 60 scfm does not result in an airspeed exceeding Mach 0.2 under standard conditions of temperature and pressure, and further having a flow opening area whose ratio to cup opening area falls between 0.36 and 1.44 for applying a desired vacuum suction force for grasping the target object. Either as a primary grasping mechanism, or as an optional supplemental grasping mechanism, a piercing mechanism may be inserted into the object and used to manipulate the object in space. Alternate systems/methods for manipulating and sorting objects via hitting, flicking, or pushing are also disclosed.

A guide member (14) has an upper surface assisting conveyance of workpieces (44) mounted on a table (12) and is arranged downstream of the table (12) in a workpiece conveyance direction. A belt drive mechanism (16) has pulleys (26a to 26d, 28a to 28b), and endless belts (32a to 32d) wound around these pulleys, and is arranged above the table (12) and the guide member (14) so as to stride over the table (12) and the guide member (14). A first opening portion is formed on a bottom portion of the belt drive mechanism (16) to generate an upward suction force. A second opening portion is formed on the upper surface of the guide member (14) to generate a downward suction force. A magnitude of the suction force generated in the first opening portion exceeds a magnitude of the suction force generated in the second opening portion.

System and methods for manipulating and sorting of objects being moved along a conveyor are disclosed, whereby control of the object is achieved through the application of one or more of vacuum, impaling, or mechanical grasping. One embodiment is directed to a robotic arm and vision detection system operable for detecting a target object to be grasped from a stream of objects being moved on a conveyor, and moving a suction head into position over the target object that has been detected on the conveyor, the suction head having a flexible cup section disposed at a distal end thereof, the vacuum item pick-up system/method using high subsonic air flow (e.g., on the order of 60 scfm or more) through a suction cup having a flow opening area large enough that an airflow of 60 scfm does not result in an airspeed exceeding Mach 0.2 under standard conditions of temperature and pressure, and further having a flow opening area whose ratio to cup opening area falls between 0.36 and 1.44 for applying a desired vacuum suction force for grasping the target object. Either as a primary grasping mechanism, or as an optional supplemental grasping mechanism, a piercing mechanism may be inserted into the object and used to manipulate the object in space. Alternate systems/methods for manipulating and sorting objects via hitting, flicking, or pushing are also disclosed.

System and methods for manipulating and sorting of objects being moved along a conveyor are disclosed, whereby control of the object is achieved through the application of one or more of vacuum, impaling, or mechanical grasping. One embodiment is directed to a robotic arm and vision detection system operable for detecting a target object to be grasped from a stream of objects being moved on a conveyor, and moving a suction head into position over the target object that has been detected on the conveyor, the suction head having a flexible cup section disposed at a distal end thereof, the vacuum item pick-up system/method using high subsonic air flow (e.g., on the order of 60 scfm or more) through a suction cup having a flow opening area large enough that an airflow of 60 scfm does not result in an airspeed exceeding Mach 0.2 under standard conditions of temperature and pressure, and further having a flow opening area whose ratio to cup opening area falls between 0.36 and 1.44 for applying a desired vacuum suction force for grasping the target object. Either as a primary grasping mechanism, or as an optional supplemental grasping mechanism, a piercing mechanism may be inserted into the object and used to manipulate the object in space. Alternate systems/methods for manipulating and sorting objects via hitting, flicking, or pushing are also disclosed.

System and methods for manipulating and sorting of objects being moved along a conveyor are disclosed, whereby control of the object is achieved through the application of one or more of vacuum, impaling, or mechanical grasping. One embodiment is directed to a robotic arm and vision detection system operable for detecting a target object to be grasped from a stream of objects being moved on a conveyor, and moving a suction head into position over the target object that has been detected on the conveyor, the suction head having a flexible cup section disposed at a distal end thereof, the vacuum item pick-up system/method using high subsonic air flow (e.g., on the order of 60 scfm or more) through a suction cup having a flow opening area large enough that an airflow of 60 scfm does not result in an airspeed exceeding Mach 0.2 under standard conditions of temperature and pressure, and further having a flow opening area whose ratio to cup opening area falls between 0.36 and 1.44 for applying a desired vacuum suction force for grasping the target object. Either as a primary grasping mechanism, or as an optional supplemental grasping mechanism, a piercing mechanism may be inserted into the object and used to manipulate the object in space. Alternate systems/methods for manipulating and sorting objects via hitting, flicking, or pushing are also disclosed.

A guide member (14) has an upper surface assisting conveyance of workpieces (44) mounted on a table (12) and is arranged downstream of the table (12) in a workpiece conveyance direction. A belt drive mechanism (16) has pulleys (26a to 26d, 28a to 28b), and endless belts (32a to 32d) wound around these pulleys, and is arranged above the table (12) and the guide member (14) so as to stride over the table (12) and the guide member (14). A first opening portion is formed on a bottom portion of the belt drive mechanism (16) to generate an upward suction force. A second opening portion is formed on the upper surface of the guide member (14) to generate a downward suction force. A magnitude of the suction force generated in the first opening portion exceeds a magnitude of the suction force generated in the second opening portion.

A collating apparatus (10), in particular for printed products such as brochures, flyers or the like, comprising a collecting section (11) having at least two collecting zones (11a,b) arranged in parallel and working independently of each other, onto which respectively a plurality of products are fed successively and are united lying one on top of the other into a collected product, and at least one further processing section (13, 15) positioned behind the collecting section (11) having at least one further processing apparatus (13a,b; 15a,b). High flexibility during operation is achieved by the arrangement between the collecting section (11) and the at least one further processing section (13, 15) of a distribution apparatus (12), which feeds the collected products arriving from the collecting zones (11a,b) selectively to the at least one further processing apparatus (13a,b, 15a,b).

A document separator for use in a document processing machine. The document separator has a flexible loop of material adjacent to a document transport mechanism so that it holds one or more documents back from being transported along a transport path while allowing a single document to be moved forward.