GB1265975A - - Google Patents

Abstract

1,265,975. Sorting parcels ; conveyers. SOVEX Ltd. 10 Dec., 1969 [24 Dec., 1968], No. 61404/68. Heading B8A. A conveyer system supplies articles to a sorting conveyer 5 and comprises at least one sorting station 6, the articles being sorted at the or each station and fed therefrom to the sorting conveyer. Each sorting station includes a store 6B for the articles which is operable in such a manner that the part of the store nearest to the sorting conveyer is filled first, the articles in the store being removed by the sorting conveyer in dependence on its capacity, so that as articles are successively fed to the sorting conveyer, the remaining articles in the store move progressively towards the sorting conveyer. As shown, applied to sorting parcels, the store comprises a plurality of compartments 6A separated from each other and from the sorting conveyer by controllable gates 7, the gates being operable in order to feed the first articles to the compartment nearest the sorting conveyer, and as articles are successively fed to the sorting conveyer to cause the articles in the compartments to move to the next empty compartment in the direction of the sorting conveyer. The parcels are fed by conveyers 8, 9, 10, to a main feeder conveyer 1. The latter has members 3 which deflect each parcel to one of a series of identical shoots 2. Alternatively, the conveyer 1 may be of the tilted band type and the members 3 may be replaced by openable gates. Each shoot 2 leads to a respective secondary feeder conveyer 4 along which are positioned push-button sorting stations (not shown). Parcels not accepted by the stations 6 are returned to the conveyer 1 by conveyers 15, 16. Similarly parcels remaining on the sorting conveyers 5 are returned by conveyers 14, 13, to the conveyer 1. An accelerating conveyer (not shown) is provided to feed parcels from the store 6B to the conveyer 5. The sorting station 6 may consist of a conveyer (not shown) having article-engaging pusher bars.