APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONVEYING AND SORTING ARTICLES

Abstract

An apparatus and a method convey and sort articles. The apparatus contains a link conveyor, having link elements, pushing-off elements, drive elements, and a control device. The link conveyor runs along a belt-movement line and has along the belt-movement line the link elements which are arranged to follow one after the other and form a conveying surface for the articles. In each case one pushing-off element can be arranged on one of the link elements, above the conveying surface, and therefore the pushing-off element runs along the belt-movement line together with the link element, and the pushing-off element can be moved, and stopped, along a pushing-off-line, which is arranged transversely to the belt-movement line. The drive elements each drive one or more pushing-off elements individually, and therefore the operations of moving and stopping these pushing-off elements, which are arranged to follow one after the other, are independent of one another.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. An apparatus for conveying and sorting articles, comprising: a link conveyor having link elements, pushing-off elements, drive elements, and a control device; said link conveyor configured to run along a belt movement line and having said link elements being disposed sequentially one after another along the belt movement line, said link elements forming a conveying surface for the articles; a pushing-off element of said pushing-off elements being disposed on each of said link elements above said conveying surface so that said pushing-off element runs together with a link element of said link elements along the belt movement line and said pushing-off element being moved and stopped along a pushing-off line disposed on said link element at an angle; each of said drive elements configured to drive at least one of said pushing-off elements individually, wherein at least two said pushing-off elements being disposed one after another along the belt movement line being driven by different ones of said drive elements so that a movement and stopping of said pushing-off elements disposed one after another is independent of one another; and said control device configured for controlling a running of said link conveyor and of said drive elements.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said link conveyor having first and second sides; and further comprising a guide rail, said link elements are mounted on said guide rail disposed between said first and second sides of said link conveyor.

18. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said link elements disposed sequentially following one another are disposed behind one another and/or overlapping one another slidingly.

19. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said pushing-off elements and said link elements are configured to engage with one another with groove guidance and/or with gripping guidance.

20. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said pushing-off elements are configured so they can be lowered to a height of, or, below said conveying surface.

21. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said drive elements are linear drives.

22. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said pushing-off elements are configured to be lockable.

23. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said control device is configured to control the apparatus, said pushing-off elements and the articles.

24. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said pushing-off element being moved and stopped along the pushing-off line disposed on said link element substantially perpendicularly to the belt movement line between a first and a second side of said link conveyor.

25. The apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising a guide rail and said link elements are mounted on said guide rail disposed between first and second sides of the link conveyor substantially centrally; or further comprising two guide rails and said link elements are mounted laterally on said two guide rails disposed along the belt movement direction.

26. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said link elements disposed sequentially following one another are disposed behind one another and/or overlapping one another slidingly in a manner of scarf joints and/or intermeshing with one another.

27. A method for conveying and sorting articles, which further comprises the steps of: placing an article on at least one link element of a link conveyor having link elements disposed one after another along a belt movement line and forming a conveying surface for the articles, wherein a pushing-off element being disposed above the conveying surface on each of the link elements; moving the link conveyor along the belt movement line; and individually controlling a movement and a stoppage of at least one of a plurality of pushing-off elements disposed along each pushing-off line, wherein the pushing-off line being disposed on a respective link element at an angle, and wherein at least two of the pushing-off elements being disposed one after another along the belt movement line being controlled independently of one another.

28. The method according to claim 27, which further comprises: acquiring a position and/or shape of the article on the conveying surface; and controlling a running of the link conveyor along the belt movement line and/or of the movement and the stoppage of the pushing-off elements in response to an acquired position and/or shape of the article.

29. The method according to 27, wherein the stoppage of at least one of the pushing-off elements takes place provided the article is still lying on the link element or the link elements of the at least one pushing-off elements.

30. The method according to claim 27, which further comprises applying a contrary motion of the pushing-off elements of successively disposed ones of the link elements to the article lying on the link elements and stopping of the pushing-off elements so that the article is subsequently restricted in its movement by the pushing-off elements.

31. The method according to claim 27, which further comprises moving the article along the pushing-off line by at least one of the pushing-off elements.

32. The method according to claim 27, which further comprises locking of the pushing-off element.

33. The method according to claim 27, which further comprises lowering of the pushing-off element to a height of, or below, the conveying surface.

34. The method according to claim 27, wherein the pushing-off line being disposed on the respective link element substantially perpendicularly to the belt movement line between a first and a second side of the link conveyor.

Description

[0039] Embodiments of the invention will now be described below in greater detail, making reference to the drawings, in which:

[0040] FIG. 1 shows an apparatus with terminals and a link conveyor having a curve;

[0041] FIG. 2 shows guidance possibilities for the pushing-off elements;

[0042] FIG. 3 shows articles lying on a link conveyor with respectively differently positioned pushing-off elements; and

[0043] FIG. 4 shows link elements configured in a scarf joint-like manner in cross-section.

[0044] FIG. 1 shows, in plan view, an apparatus 2 for conveying and sorting articles 4 (not shown in FIG. 1). The apparatus 2 comprises a link conveyor 6 with a belt movement line 16 defining a curve as the main transport direction and comprising link elements 8, arranged following one another along the belt movement line 16, which form a conveying surface 18. The link elements 8 overlap one another so that they can slide over one another in curves. Rather than overlapping one another, the link elements 8 can also otherwise engage in one another.

[0045] Therefore, the link conveyor 6 can move along curves, twists and slopes without gaps arising on the conveying surface 18 through which the articles 4 or other small parts can fall or which represent interfering contours.

[0046] Each link element 8 has a pushing-off line 20 and its own pushing-off element 10 arranged on this link element 8. The pushing-off elements 10 are driven by autonomously controllable drive elements 12 associated with them and can be moved, stopped and preferably also locked in an individually controlled manner on the link element 8 between their two sides 22a, 22b along their pushing-off line 20. An autonomous controllability should be understood to mean that all the pushing-off elements 10 or at least pushing-off elements arranged following one another along the belt movement line 16 can be moved and stopped independently of one another. Preferably, for this purpose, each pushing-off element 10 has its own drive element 12.

[0047] The pushing-off elements 10 can thus be moved, stopped and preferably also locked both at any position along the pushing-off line 20 and also completely independently of one another. The movement possibilities of the pushing-off elements 10 are not restricted to particular points along the belt movement line 16. A high level of flexibility is therefore possible. A plurality of pushing-off elements 10a can be positioned adapted to the contours of an article 4a (FIG. 3), can orient this article 4 and subsequently or simultaneously move it along the pushing-off line 20. Articles can also be ejected and/or manipulated in curves of the link conveyor 6. In contrast to other sorting systems, the spacing between successive articles 4 is independent of the article size and can be selected individually. It is possible firstly to preposition an article 4 during transport along the belt movement line 16 with the pushing-off elements 10 (to the edge of the conveying surface 18 like the article 4b in FIG. 3 and/or usefully with regard to its orientation, as in the example of the article 4a in FIG. 3), then the pushing-off elements 10 are stopped and possibly also locked before the article 4 is ejected laterally by the pushing-off elements 10 into one of the terminals 24 directly adjoining the link conveyor 6. In order to eject the prepositioned article 4, all the pushing-off elements 10 in contact with this article 4 are moved simultaneously and in a coordinated manner. By means of the prepositioning, higher ejection speeds are possible, but with very precise and article-protecting removal, since the prepositioned article must only be accelerated and moved over a short path. Individually or in combination, all of this enables the apparatus 2 to have a particularly high capacity.

[0048] The alignment of the link elements 8 determines the angle between the pushing-off line 20 and the belt movement line 16. In FIG. 1, these are arranged substantially perpendicularly to one another, but other angles (which preferably agree for all the link elements 8) are also possible.

[0049] The apparatus 2 comprises a control device 14 for driving the link conveyor 6, the pushing-off elements 10 and their drive elements 12. According to a preferred embodiment, the apparatus 2 also has locking apparatuses for locking stopped pushing-off elements 10. The locking apparatuses can be included by the drive elements 12 or can be configured separately. In the case of a drive element 12 configured as a spindle, the locking can be realized particularly simply. For realizing the drive elements 12, a wide variety of drive possibilities can be accessed. It is decisive only that the selected drives are configured for individually driving and stopping the movement of the pushing-off elements 10 on their link elements 8, wherein the stopping should preferably be possible at any position along the pushing-off line 20. The most precise possible controllability is advantageous, as is a rapid acceleration so that the pushing-off elements 10 can also eject precisely even at high speeds of the link conveyor 6. The drive elements 12 must be able to move along the belt movement line 16 together with their link elements 8. Preferably, each pushing-off element 10 has its own drive element 12. At the outside it is still possible that a drive element 12 controls a plurality of pushing-off elements 10 situated relatively close to one another, wherein at least two pushing-off elements 10 arranged behind one another along the belt movement line 16 can be driven by different drive elements 12.

[0050] According to a further embodiment, the control device 14 is also configured to detect the position and orientation of the articles 4 on the apparatus 2 both with a detection apparatus and/or using calculations with a known start position and orientation on the apparatus 2 and in response thereto, to control the apparatus 2. The position of the pushing-off elements 10 must also be known to the control device 14 (comprehensible either on the basis of calculations and/or detectors) and/or on the basis of feedback. The control device 14 knows selected reference points for a determination of the ejection positions.

[0051] The link conveyor 6 runs on a guideway which is configured, in particular, in a rail-like manner. According to a further embodiment, the link conveyor 6 is held by a central guideway arranged in the middle, substantially along the belt movement line 16. Thus, folds and bends of the link conveyor 6, curves etc. are particularly simple to realize by design. Other guideways are possible, for example, a railway track-like guide on both sides.

[0052] According to a further embodiment, a separating apparatus for separating the articles 4 is arranged upstream of the apparatus 2, so that two articles 4 are not situated on one link element 8 simultaneously.

[0053] The dimensioning of the link elements 8 and the pushing-off elements 10 in relation to the articles 4 determines the possible precision in the case of a positioning of the pushing-off elements 10 adapted to the contour of the articles 4, during prepositioning and during ejection. In addition, this dimensioning also determines the minimum spacing of successive articles 4 and thus the capacity of the apparatus 2.

[0054] FIG. 2 shows guidance possibilities for the pushing-off elements 10 according to further embodiments. With a groove guidance (FIG. 2a) along the pushing-off line 20, the link element 8 has a slot along the pushing-off line 20 for inserting and guiding the pushing-off element 10 and is guided in a rail-like manner. In particular, in an embodiment of the drive element 12 as a linear motor, the slot is filled by a rail and the pushing-off element 10 is situated on the rotor.

[0055] With a gripping guidance (FIG. 2b), the pushing-off element 10 laterally surrounds its link element.

[0056] The pushing-off elements 10 can be entirely freely formed and configured and preferably they are designed to be form-fitting with the link elements 8 and/or the articles 4 intended for the apparatus 2.

[0057] FIG. 3 shows articles 4a, 4b, 4c lying on a link conveyor with respectively differently positioned pushing-off elements 10 according to further embodiments.

[0058] The pushing-off elements 10a are moved to the irregularly shaped article 4a, so that it can be ejected by all the pushing-off elements 10a. A prior change in the orientation by means of individual control of the pushing-off elements 10a is also possible.

[0059] The article 4b has been moved by the pushing-off elements 10b as far as the edge 2b of the link conveyor 6 and is oriented along this edge 2b. At a later point in time, the article 4b is laterally ejected—to a terminal 24 or a further conveyor.

[0060] The article 4c was surrounded by the pushing-off elements 10c, 10c′ and clamped so that with the link conveyor 6 running fast and during curved travel, the position of the article 4c remains stable. For the surrounding by the pushing-off elements 10c, 10c′, they are either positioned before placement of the article onto the conveying surface on both sides of the link conveyor 6 on the first and second sides 22a, 22b and then moved by contrary movement of the pushing-off elements 10c to the article 4c. For a lateral ejection, a submerging of the pushing-off elements 10c arranged on the ejection side to the height of, or below, the conveying surface 18 is required. This is easily realized in that the pushing-off elements 10 can run round the link element 8. If the pushing-off elements 10 can run round the link element 8 along the pushing-off line 20, a prepositioning of the pushing-off elements 10 before the placement on the link elements 8 is also not required, although it can be advantageous (the prepositioning enables a more rapid positioning of the pushing-off elements 10, etc.).

[0061] The pushing-off elements 10 are typically controlled, moved, stopped and/or locked while the link conveyor 6 runs along the belt movement line 16 and the articles 4 can thus be transported along the belt movement line 16. The running speed of the link conveyor 6 can be controlled and adjusted by the control device 14, including stopping of the link conveyor 6.

[0062] FIG. 4 shows link elements 8 configured in a scarf joint-like manner according to one embodiment in cross-section. Some of the pushing-off elements 10 are arranged in front, others behind the drawing plane. Due to the scarf joint-like inclines of the link elements 8, the transitions between the link elements 8 do not form any large interfering contours even in the curves, and the conveying surface 18 remains relatively flat. In order that the flexibility of the link conveyor 6 still remains possible, the link elements 8 only overlap one another, but without firm fixing of the contact surfaces of link elements touching one another, since these would make curves and conveyor belt loop-like circulation with upper and lower runs of the link conveyor impossible. Other forms of the interlinking of successive link elements 8 are also possible. Through the overlapping of the link elements 6, no gaps form on the conveying surface, even in curves.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0063] 2 Apparatus [0064] 4 Article [0065] 6 Link conveyor [0066] 8 Link elements [0067] 10 Pushing-off elements [0068] 12 Drive elements [0069] 14 Control device [0070] 16 Belt movement line [0071] 18 Conveying surface [0072] 20 Pushing-off line [0073] 22 Side of the link element [0074] 24 Terminal