EP1554059A1

EP1554059A1 - Device for effecting the positionally accurate conveyance of flat articles to be sorted to an input device for a sorting conveyor

Info

Publication number: EP1554059A1
Application number: EP03738111A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Beat Fritsche; Thomas Zimmermann
Original assignee: Siemens Schweiz AG
Current assignee: Siemens Schweiz AG
Priority date: 2002-10-23
Filing date: 2003-07-03
Publication date: 2005-07-20
Anticipated expiration: 2023-07-03
Also published as: EP1554059B1; WO2004037449A1; JP2006502935A; DE50311289D1; JP4092336B2

Abstract

The aim of the invention is to provide a device for effecting the positionally accurate conveyance of flat articles to be sorted to an input device for a sorting conveyor, whereby this device enables, in particular, even problematic articles to be sorted, such as e.g. bulk mailings, to be conveyed in a sufficiently accurate manner for the subsequent processing thereof. To this end, the invention provides that a draw-off unit (15), which periodically separates the flat articles to be sorted (6), feeds the flat articles to be sorted (6a) in separated form to a conveyor line (26), and a conveying unit (30), with a defined advance of the input device (8), transfers the separated articles to be sorted (6a) after these articles to be sorted (6a) have arrived at a predetermined location of conveyance of the conveyor line (26). This ensures that an article to be sorted is positioned with a defined final position in the input device due to this specific advance whereby enabling a subsequent processing, particularly the vertical raising of the article to be sorted, to be effected in a reliable and automated manner. The format and the structure of the article to be sorted are of no additional importance since that, with the arrival of the article to be sorted at the predetermined location of conveyance, a specific translation of the article to be sorted ensues exactly by the extent of the preset advance.

Description

description

Device for precisely feeding flat sorting pieces to an input device for a sorting conveyor

The invention relates to a device for accurately feeding flat sorting pieces to an input device for a sorting conveyor.

Such a device is usually used in a sorting conveyor for post automation, such as is described for example in European patent application EP 827 786 AI. This sorting conveyor usually has so-called bullet devices, which shoot the flat sorting pieces into pockets of a rotating conveyor. The flat sorting pieces are emptied out of these pockets at the physical target locations assigned to them and can subsequently be brought to their destination.

The sorting of flat sorting items is comparatively demanding because the dimensions and handling of flat items to be sorted fluctuate within wide limits. On the one hand, there is almost an unlimited variety of different dimensions in terms of width, height and thickness, solely in terms of format. Furthermore, the packaging and stiffness of flat sorting items can be found in very different configurations, which are represented in opposite ways, for example, by rather hard, rigid cardboard envelopes and by rather soft brochures and magazines packed in foil. The so-called direct mail items, which are usually advertising materials, are particularly problematic included and often consist only of a loose-leaf collection with additional inlays and advertising inserts that extend beyond the dimensions of the other sheets.

Usually, such direct mail items, but also other flat sorting items, are placed in horizontally stored stacks in the feed device mentioned at the beginning and have to be withdrawn individually from these stacks, which in itself is also a technically very demanding task. So that these flat sorting pieces, which are generally located horizontally, can be fed into the rotating sorting conveyor with a bullet device, it is necessary to set up these sorting pieces vertically. However, this positioning in turn makes it necessary for the sorting pieces to be brought very precisely positioned to the device for setting up the sorting pieces beforehand. This is aggravated by the fact that the less rigid and less homogeneous sorting pieces, e.g. the above Direct mail items, particularly difficult to handle and therefore generally cannot be fed automatically, but instead have to be positioned manually from an input location on the feed device, which represents a considerable cost factor.

The invention is therefore based on the object of specifying a device for accurately feeding flat sorting pieces to an input device for a sorting conveyor, which makes it possible, in particular, to also address the above-mentioned particularly problematic ones

Feed sorting pieces with sufficient accuracy for further processing.

In the device of the type mentioned at the outset, this object is achieved in that a withdrawal unit which periodically separates the flat sorting pieces has the flat sorting pieces in a separated form feeds onto a conveyor line and a feed unit transfers the separated sorting items after these sorting items have reached a predetermined conveying location of the conveyor line with a defined feed of the input device.

In this way it is ensured that a sorting piece is positioned in the input device with a defined end position due to this targeted feed, so that further processing, in particular the vertical positioning of the sorting piece, can be carried out safely and automatically. The format and the nature of the sorting piece are of no further concern, because when the sorting piece arrives at the predetermined location, a targeted translation of the sorting piece takes place by exactly the feed.

In particular in the case of direct mail items with loose sheet inserts and the like, it is particularly important that a comparatively stable edge, for example the folded edge, can be arranged underneath when the sorting item is later set up. For this it sees a special one

Embodiment of the invention that the sorting pieces, which have a preferred edge, can be deposited in stacks in the withdrawal unit and can be transferred to the conveyor line with the preferred edge lying foremost.

A particularly reliable embodiment of this feature mentioned above can provide that the extraction unit comprises a drum-like, rotatable unit which has suction cups and a transport securing element, with the suction cups providing an attack on a sorting piece closest to the drum and then with the transport securing element an edge, in particular the preferred edge, of the sorting piece engaged with the suction cups can be brought into engagement. In this way, the suction cups can suck in a sorting piece located at the bottom of the stack near the edge and, due to the circular path of the drum, from the sorting pieces above separate. Then the transport securing element controlled by the circular movement, for example a lever pressing the sorting piece with the edge against a counter bearing, engages the sorting piece, which is now pulled out of the stack and conveyed into a suitable position on the circular path.

It is particularly expedient if the vacuum of the suction cups can be reduced again and the transport securing element can be removed from the edge for depositing the sorting piece on the conveyor line after a predeterminable rotation angle line. The sorting piece is so freely conveyable on the conveyor line, which does not necessarily mean that the sorting piece is placed in a horizontal position, since the circular movement of the drum-like unit also allows other layers.

In an expedient embodiment of the invention, the predetermined conveying location can be determined by a light barrier assigned to the conveying path and / or by one of the

Contact sensor assigned to the conveying path can be represented. In addition or as an alternative, the specified funding location can be represented at the same time or alternatively also by the end of the conveyor line.

A mechanically particularly reliably operable and simply constructed feed unit is obtained if the feed unit comprises a telescopic unit with a movable carriage, the carriage moves out of the predetermined conveying location when the sorting piece is reached, and the defined feed corresponds to the predetermined extension path. The extension and the subsequent retraction can be activated by an electric motor, but for example pneumatically. According to the control of these activation elements, the extension path can therefore be changed within appropriate limits, so that the extension path can be quite shorter than the length of the pull-out means available, e.g. a pull-out rail.

In order to be able to ensure that the defined point for the transfer of the sorting piece to the input device is also always complied with in the continuous automated operation, the slide of the telescopic unit is adjusted so that it has returned to its rest position before the sorting piece just ejected following sorting piece has reached the specified funding location. It should be noted here that the next sorting piece can already be transported to the predetermined conveying location over the retracting slide of the telescopic unit. The only important thing is that the sled has returned to its rest position at least at the time when that

Sorting piece has reached the predetermined conveying point and thus the takeover of the sorting piece on the slide is imminent.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the telescopic unit, the slide of the telescopic unit can have a revolving conveyor belt that is not driven during the extension movement and driven during the insertion movement. It is thus possible that the position of the sorting piece relative to the slide remains unchanged during the pushing-out movement and that during the pushing-in movement the depositing / transferring of the sorting piece onto / to the input device is supported by a suitable drive of the conveyor belt.

Particularly critical for storing / handing over the

Sorting piece from the carriage on / to the input device is the backward insertion movement of the carriage. This backward insertion movement is relatively equalized for the sorting piece if a drive element for the conveyor belt of the slide is coupled to the movement of the slide, with a free-wheel being provided for the extension movement and for the extension movement The speed of the conveyor belt is at least largely adjusted in terms of amount to the speed of the insertion movement, but has an opposite sign.

Another particularly advantageous and simply constructed variant for the telescope unit provides a telescope unit which comprises at least one system of two pairs of rollers coupled via a closed belt, which has the following properties: a) the relative position of the two rollers within one Pair of roles to each other is fixed; b) one pair of rollers is arranged in a fixed position and the other pair of rollers is fastened to the slide which performs the extension and insertion movement; c) each pair of rollers includes at least one roller equipped with a freewheel, so that cl) when the slide extends, the tape rolls only over the rollers of the stationary roller pair, and c2) when the slide is inserted, the tape only rolls over the rollers attached to the slide.

In this way, separate drive elements for driving the belt during the insertion movement are no longer necessary on the carriage, because the belt rolls in the direction of conveyance in accordance with the backward movement over the two rollers of the carriage and the sorting piece does not feel that the carriage is underneath him away. It remains exactly in the end position of the extension movement, which was highly intended. Thanks to the freewheels provided for each pair of rollers, the belt remains unchanged in the area of the slide during the extension movement, because the belt rolls over the rollers of the fixed pair of rollers during the extension movement and the rollers of the slide do not allow the belt to roll over these rollers because of the now free-wheeling. In order to be able to transfer the sorting piece particularly well from the conveyor line to the slide, both the conveyor line, at least in the rest position of the slide of the telescopic unit and the slide, can comprise strip-shaped, spaced-apart conveyor belts, the strip-shaped conveyor belts of the conveyor line and the telescopic pull-out are arranged alternately. In this way, a kind of transfer zone is created, which is (final) part of the conveyor line and the carriage.

So that the number of cycles in particular can also be selected to be comparatively high, it is possible, as already mentioned above, to transport sorting items into the aforementioned transfer zone even when the carriage is still moving back. So that the influence of the returning carriage remains negligible on the sorting pieces being transported in the opposite direction, the level of the strip-shaped belts of the carriage, which serves as a support for the sorting piece, can be arranged slightly lower than the level of the strip-shaped belts of the conveyor line in which the Sorting piece is promoted. Only when the slide is ejected and the sorting piece is transported further beyond the end of the conveyor line does the slide take over

Sorting piece sliding. This transfer can be significantly supported by the fact that the band or bands of the slide have an adhesive surface. Additionally or alternatively, the sorting pieces can also be held on the slide in a suitable manner, although not strictly speaking. For this purpose, the sorting pieces can be brought into engagement with a roller-mounted spring element until the predetermined conveying location is reached, which spring element (lightly) presses the sorting piece onto the belt or strips. Another feature that supports the transfer from the conveyor line to the slide can be achieved if the slide of the telescopic unit is set such that the slide at least approximates the transfer of the sorting piece from the conveyor line to the slide

Has speed of the sorting piece transported on the conveyor line. Thus, there is no difference in the relative speeds when the sorting piece passes from the conveyor line to the carriage, which means that there is no undesired displacement of the sorting piece on the

Sled result. Such displacements could otherwise result, for example, when the carriage is accelerating from the rest position with the sorting piece already resting on it.

A solution that is very different from the above-described solutions to the task provides for an embodiment of the feed unit with a disk-like, rotating, non-rotationally symmetrical conveying element which, with its regions remote from the axis, engages the sorting pieces that have reached the specified conveying location and in this way does Feeds to the input device until the areas near the axis lose their grip on the sorting piece. In this way, the sorting pieces are pulled along by the conveying element as long as the areas remote from the axis engage the sorting piece, so that a defined feed can also be achieved in this way. Depending on the thickness of the sorting pieces, a height adjustment can be provided for the conveying element, so that, as a result, sorting pieces of different thicknesses nevertheless remain in engagement with the conveying element for the same length. Likewise, a swash plate can be provided in the same way, which due to its imbalance also only engages with the sorting piece for a certain period of time per revolution and thus ensures a defined advance of the sorting piece. Further advantageous embodiments of the invention can be found in the remaining subclaims.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail with reference to a drawing. Show:

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a top view of a first positioning device with a downstream input device;

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a side view of the first positioning device;

Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a top view of a second positioning device with a subordinate

Input device;

Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a side view of the second positioning device;

Figure 5 is a schematic representation of a top view of a third positioning device;

Figure 6 is a schematic representation of a side view of the third positioning device;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic representation of a side view of a telescope unit which is just in the extended state;

Figure 8 is a schematic representation of a side view of the telescopic unit in the retracted state according to Figure 7; and

Figure 9 is a schematic representation of a side view of a fourth positioning device with a vertical transfer device. FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a top view of a first positioning device 2, with which flat sorting pieces 6 located in a horizontal stack 4 are transferred to an input device 8 shown in detail with a precise position. The positionally accurate transfer is so extremely important because the sorting pieces 6 are then rotated from the horizontal to the vertical position in the part of the input device 8 shown here and are then shot into the pockets of a sorting conveyor (also not shown here) using a shooting device (not shown here) , Because the above-mentioned process steps for sorting the sorting pieces 6 take place at a comparatively high sorting speed, it therefore makes sense that the sorting pieces 6 must be able to be handled very precisely at all times.

The operation of the first positioning device 2 will now be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2, these

The principle of operation also applies to a second positioning device 10 shown in more detail in FIGS. 3 and 4 and a third positioning device 12 described in more detail in FIGS. 5 and 6.

In the exemplary embodiment, the flat sorting pieces 6 are advertising brochures folded in the A4 format, in which one or more loose insert sheets are inserted. The prospectuses are not stapled, but only nested as a loose-leaf collection. It is easy to see that such sorting pieces 6 are extremely difficult to handle because, with the exception of the folded edge, which is referred to below as the preferred edge 14, they otherwise do not provide any points of attack for a positionally accurate automated transport. These sorting pieces 6 are now placed in the stack 4 on a separating drum 16 on a shelf 18. The separation stream is a component of a take-off unit 15, which is shown enlarged within the dashed lines in FIG. The bottom-most sorting piece 6a is then actively sucked in from below by means of suction cups 20, which are arranged on the rotating singling drum 16, and is thus initially deflected downward from the stack 4. At the same time, the suctioned sorting piece 6a is pressed on its preferred edge 14 by means of a lever 22 onto a counter bearing 24 arranged on the singling drum 16, so that the sucked sorting piece 6a which is clamped in with the lever 22 now follows the circular movement of the singling drum 16. After a rotation of 180 °, the negative pressure in the suction cups 20 is released again and the lever 22 is pivoted away from the counter bearing 24, so that the sorting piece 6a thus separated is now transferred to a conveying path 26 which, by means of strip-shaped conveyor belts 28, the separated sorting piece 6a to a

Telescope unit 30 promotes. The exception is the process of incorrectly deducting several sorting items at the same time. For this purpose, the lever 22 has means for measuring thickness not shown, for example by means of an inductive sensor. Now actually becomes a

If multiple deductions are detected, these sorting pieces are no longer fed onto the conveyor line, but are discharged into a tray (not shown here).

The telescope unit 30 is in the individual below

Figures 7 and 8 described. At this point, for the sake of explanation, only so much should be said that a movable carriage 32 of the telescopic unit 30 extends at the speed of the strip-shaped belts 28 'of the conveyor section 26 which were last arranged in the conveyor section 26, that is to say that it performs an extension movement when the preferred edge 14 of the Sorting piece 6a reaches a light barrier 34. The Carriage 32, which also has strip-shaped conveyor belt systems 38, travels a defined feed distance and places the sorting piece 6a on a conveyor belt 36 when it is retracted, ie when the backward insertion movement is carried out

Input device 8 from where it is then transported in the direction perpendicular to the previous conveying direction in the input device 8 and rotated into the vertical. In this case, a rolling element 42 is additionally provided, which always presses onto the conveyor belt 36 when the sorting piece 6a has just been put down, which contributes to further maintaining the exact storage location for the sorting piece 6a.

In order to be able to place the sorting piece 6a precisely on the conveyor belt 6, i.e. in detail that the preferred edge 14 always comes to rest at the same point, it is provided during the insertion movement that the rearward movement of the carriage 32 is leveled out by rolling the conveyor belt systems 38 over the leading edge 40 close to the preferred edge 14. It is therefore a special essence of the present invention that the relative position from the preferred edge 14 to the leading edge 40 of the slide 32 remains unchanged during the extension movement and the leading edge 40 retracts relative to the preferred edge 14 during the insertion movement, which however affects the sorting piece 6a the conveyor belt system 38 rolling over the front edge 40 is leveled out relatively. In this way, the exact position of the sorting piece 6a is retained even when the slide is pushed in, which is of great importance for the further conveyance of the sorting piece 6a and an essential goal intended with the positioning device 2.

The second positioning device, which is only slightly modified compared to the first positioning device 2, can be clearly seen from FIGS. 3 and 4 that in principle only the course of the conveying path 26 changes Has. For reasons of space savings in width, the available height is used and the sorting pieces βa separated with the singling drum 16 are first brought up to the telescopic unit 30 vertically, then horizontally and finally obliquely downwards. Here, too, a light barrier, which is not shown here, is provided, the reaching of which from a sorting piece 6a leads to the slide 32 being pushed out. In addition to the components of the telescopic unit 30 shown so far, a pneumatic unit 44 is now also shown with a plunger 46 driven by it, which is coupled to the slide 32. The pneumatic unit 44 could also be replaced by an electric motor drive for the plunger 46, which, under suitable circumstances, could also allow less noisy operation. As with the previous variant, the telescopic unit 30 is also shown in the extended position in the second positioning device 10.

The one opposite the first and the second

Positioning device 2 or 10, the third positioning device 12, which has been slightly modified, clearly shows, according to FIGS. 5 and 6, that the sorting piece 6a is transferred here to the slide 32 of the telescopic unit 30 in a perpendicularly falling direction. In this way, this embodiment variant makes it possible to simplify the input device 8 in such a way that the conveyor section for rotating the sorting pieces 6a has become obsolete from the horizontal to the vertical position. In principle, nothing changes in the guidance and in the achievement of the advance by the extension movement of the slide 32 in this variant as compared to the previous two variants. FIGS. 7 and 8 show a particularly preferred embodiment variant for the telescopic unit 30 in a schematic illustration. According to this embodiment, the telescopic unit 30 comprises a plurality of conveyor belt systems 38, each of which represents a conveyor belt strip. The mode of operation is explained below using one of these conveyor belt systems 38. Each conveyor belt system 38 has two pairs of rollers 48, 50 which are coupled by a closed belt 38 'and each comprise two rollers 48a and 48b or 50a and 50b. The relative position of the two rollers 48a and 48b or 50a and 50b within a pair of rollers 48, 50 is fixed to one another. The pair of rollers 48 is arranged in a fixed position on the telescopic unit 30 and the other pair of rollers 50 is attached to the slide 32, which carries out the extension movement in the direction of an arrow 52 and the insertion movement in the direction of an arrow 54.

In the exemplary embodiment, the rollers 48b and 50b each have a freewheel, the roller 48b being locked in the counterclockwise direction and the roller 50b in the clockwise direction. As a result, when the carriage 32 is pushed out, the band 38 'only rolls over the rollers 48a and 48b of the stationary pair of rollers 48, both rollers 48a and 48b rolling in a clockwise direction. In this way, the sorting piece 6a, once it has reached the light barrier 34, no longer changes its position relative to the roller 50a during the extension movement, which is highly intended. Desirably different is this constellation in the insertion movement, in which the band 38 'rolls only over the rollers 50a and 50b attached to the carriage 32, the roller 50a running in the clockwise direction and the roller 50b in the counterclockwise direction. Thus, the sorting piece 6a does not “feel” the insertion movement at all, but retains its end position achieved with the extension movement as desired

Preferred edge 14 of the sorting piece 6a thus always comes to lie exactly at the desired location on the input device 8. To support this process, a spring plate 58 supported with rollers 56 is provided, which presses the sorting piece 6a lightly against the adhesive conveyor belt 38 'during the ejection movement and at the Insertion movement over the sorting piece 6a - without friction with the sorting piece 6a - rolls back.

"

It can also be seen very clearly that the conveyor belt 38 'is arranged a little below the conveyor belt 28', which can still be regarded as belonging to the conveyor section 26, so that even when the carriage 32 is moving in, a new sorting piece 6a is already above it Light barrier 34 can be introduced. This area can therefore be regarded as a type of transfer zone for the transition from the conveyor line 26 to the telescope unit 30.

FIG. 9 shows a schematic representation of a side view of a fourth positioning device 60, which is based on the third positioning device 12, but is designed with a vertical transfer device 62 instead of a telescopic unit 30. This fourth positioning device 60 is characterized in that a section 26 'of the conveying path 26 immediately preceding the predetermined conveying location is oriented substantially perpendicularly, this section 26' of the conveying path 26 comprising a pair of belts 64, 66 for guiding the sorting piece 6a , wherein the one band 64 of the pair of bands 64, 66 is guided on two rollers 68, 70 and runs from the other band 66 of the

Band pair 64, 66 can be lifted for a predetermined time. In this way, the predetermined advance of the sorting piece 6a according to the invention is realized within the scope of a free falling piece, which ends when the sorting piece 6a strikes the input device 8. As desired, the sorting piece 6a lies directly on the input device 8 with the preferred edge 14 and can thus be shot into the sorting conveyor. In addition to achieving the desired feed without too many moving parts, this positioning device 60 is characterized on the one hand by its small space requirement and on the other hand by the fact that in particular sorting pieces 6a, into which protruding loose sheets are inserted over the edge, can be fed reliably without the inserted sheets being lost or leading to material jams and the like.

In detail, it is provided here that a sensor, which is arranged only a little downward from the roller 70, detects the exit of the sorting piece 6a with a correspondingly predetermined length from the pair of belts 64, 66 and thus triggers the lifting of the belt 64 by suitable control means 72 , The duration of this lifting is chosen so that the duration of the lifting process is adapted to the cycle time of the sorting piece feed and to the length of the sorting piece 6a.

In order to make it easier for the sorting piece 6a, which temporarily falls freely, to open, as seen in the conveying direction, after the pair of belts 64, 66, a drop channel 74 widened on the input side in the manner of a dovetail, which opens into the input device 8.

In a manner not shown here, the capacity of all the positioning devices 2, 10, 12 and 60 shown can be increased by installing a switch in front of the sections in order to achieve the predetermined feed in the conveyor section 26, which switches the current generated with the singling drum 16 divides isolated sorting pieces 6a into different feed paths, which means that, for example, two telescopic units 30 or two vertical transfer devices 62 are operated in parallel next to one another. Of course, a third or fourth, etc. mode of operation operated in parallel is also conceivable. Ultimately, the only limitation is likely to be the speed of the separating device, the proper functioning of which, with a more or less unlimited capacity, sets reasonable system-related limits. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

2 first positioning device

4 stacks of 6 flat sorting pieces

6a isolated flat sorting piece

8 input device

10 second positioning device

12 third positioning device 14 preferred edge

15 trigger unit

16 separation drum 18 storage

20 suction cups 22 levers

24 counter bearings

26 conveyor line

28 strip-shaped conveyor belts on the conveyor line

28 'strip-shaped conveyor belts last arranged in the conveyor line

30 telescope unit

32 sledges

34 light barrier

36 conveyor belt 38 conveyor belt system

38 'band

40 leading edge of the slide 32

42 rolling element

44 pneumatic unit 46 plunger

48, 50 pairs of rollers

48a, 48b roles of the pair of roles 48

50a, 50b roles of the pair of roles 50

52, 54 directional arrow of the one or. Extending movement 56 rolls

58 spring plate

60 vertical transfer device vertical transfer device, 66 pairs of belts, 70 rollers' control means

Claims

claims

1. Device (2, 10, 12) for the precise feeding of flat sorting pieces (6, βa) to an input device (8) for a sorting conveyor, characterized in that the flat sorting pieces (6) periodically separating removal unit (15) the flat Sorts sorting pieces (6) in individual form onto a conveyor line (26) and a feed unit (30) the separated sorting pieces (6a) after these sorting pieces (6a) have reached a predetermined conveying location of the conveyor line (26) with a defined feed of the input device (8) passes.

2. Device (2, 10, 12) according to claim 1, characterized in that the sorting pieces (6, 6a) have a preferred edge (14) and the sorting pieces (6, 6a) in the extraction unit (15) can be stored in stacks and with foremost lying preferred edge (14) can be transferred to the conveyor section (26).

3. Device (2, 10, 12) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the extraction unit (15) comprises a drum-like, rotatable unit (16) which has suction cups (20) and a transport securing element (22), wherein the suction cups (20) provide an attack on a sorting piece (6a) closest to the drum (16) and then an edge, in particular the preferred edge (14), of the sorting element (22) engages with the suction cups (20) standing sorting piece (6a) can be brought into engagement.

4. The device (2, 10, 12) according to claim 3, characterized in that for depositing the sorting piece (6a) on the conveyor line (26)

«* The vacuum of the suction cups (20) can be reduced again after each predeterminable rotation angle and that

Transport securing element (22) is removable from the edge.

5. The device (2, 10, 12) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the predetermined conveying location is represented by a light barrier (34) assigned to the conveying path (26) and / or by a contact sensor assigned to the conveying path (26) is.

6. The device (2, 10, 12) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the predetermined conveying location is represented by the end of the conveying path (26).

7. The device (2, 10, 12) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the feed unit comprises a telescopic unit (30) with a movable slide (32), the slide (32) upon reaching the Extends sorting piece (6a) at the predetermined conveying location, and the defined feed corresponds to the predetermined extension path.

8. The device (2, 10, 12) according to claim 7, characterized in that the carriage (32) of the telescopic unit (30) is set so that it has returned to its rest position before the sorting piece just ejected (6a ) the following sorting piece (6a) reaches the specified conveying location.

9. The device (2, 10, 12) according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the slide of the telescopic unit has a revolving conveyor belt that is not driven during the extension movement and driven during the insertion movement.

10. The device (2, 10, 12) according to claim 9, characterized in that a drive element for the conveyor belt of the carriage is coupled to the movement of the carriage, a free-wheeling mechanism being provided for the extension movement and the speed of the conveyor belt in terms of amount during the insertion movement is at least largely adapted to the speed of the insertion movement, but has an opposite sign.

11. The device (2, 10, 12) according to claim 7, characterized in that the telescopic unit (30) comprises at least one system (38) of two pairs of rollers (48, 50) coupled via a closed belt (38 '), which has the following properties: a) the relative position of the two rollers (48a, 48b or 50a, 50b) within a pair of rollers (48, 50) to one another is fixed; b) one pair of rollers (48) is arranged in a fixed position and the other pair of rollers (50) is fastened to the carriage (32) which executes the extension and insertion movement; c) each pair of rollers (48, 50) comprises at least one roller (48b, 50b) equipped with a freewheel, so that cl) when the slide (32) is pushed out, the belt (38 ') only over the rollers (48a, 48b) of the stationary pair of rollers (48) rolls, and c2) when the slide (32) is inserted, the belt (38 ') only rolls over the rollers (50a, 50b) attached to the slide (32).

12. The device (2, 10, 12) according to one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that both the conveyor path (26) at least in the region of the rest position of the slide (32) of the telescopic unit (30) the carriage (32) also comprises strip-shaped, spaced-apart conveyor belts (38), the strip-shaped conveyor belts (28 ') of the conveyor section (26) and the telescopic unit (30) being arranged alternately with one another.

13. The device (2, 10, 12) according to claim 12, characterized in that the plane of the strip-shaped bands (38 ') of the carriage (32), which serves as a support for the sorting piece (6a), is arranged slightly lower than that Level of the strip-shaped belts (28 ') of the conveyor section (26) in which the sorting piece (6a) is conveyed.

14. The device (2, 10, 12) according to one of claims 7 to 13, characterized in that the band or bands (38 ') of the carriage (32) have an adhesive surface.

15. The device (2, 10, 12) according to one of claims 7 to 14, characterized in that the sorting pieces (6a) can be brought into engagement with a roller-mounted spring element (56) which reaches the sorting piece (6a ) on the band or bands (38 ') of the carriage (32).

16. The device (2, 10, 12) according to one of claims 7 to 15, characterized in that the slide (32) of the telescopic unit (30) is set such that the slide (32) during the transfer of the sorting piece ( 6a) from the conveyor line (26) to the

Carriage (26) has at least approximately the speed of the sorting piece (6a) transported on the conveyor line (26).

17. Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a section of the conveying section (26) immediately preceding the predetermined conveying location is oriented substantially vertically, this section of the conveying section (26) comprising a pair of belts for guiding the sorting piece, the one band of the pair of belts being circulated on two rollers and can be lifted off the other band of the pair of bands for a predeterminable time.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17, characterized in that the exit of the sorting piece with a predetermined length from the pair of belts is the trigger for lifting one of the two pairs of belts.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 or 18, characterized in that the duration of the lifting process is adapted to a cycle time of the sorting piece feed.

20. Device according to one of claims 17 to 19, characterized in that, seen in the conveying direction after the pair of belts, a drop channel widened on the input side in the manner of a dovetail is provided, which opens into the input device (8).

21. The device (2, 10, 12) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the feed unit has a disk-like, rotating, non-rotationally symmetrical conveying element which, with its region remote from the axis, on the sorting pieces which have reached the predetermined conveying location, attacks and in this way brings about the feed to the input device until the areas near the axis lose the attack on the sorting piece.