GB2026417A

GB2026417A - A device for loading objects onto a conveyor

Info

Publication number: GB2026417A
Application number: GB7920726A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: TLD Group SAS
Current assignee: TLD Group SAS
Priority date: 1978-06-15
Filing date: 1979-06-14
Publication date: 1980-02-06
Also published as: BE876998A; DE2923837A1; SE7905161L; LU81380A1; GB2026417B; SE437813B; DK246579A; NL7904624A; FR2428594B1; FR2428594A1

Abstract

A device for loading objects P, for example parcels or luggage, onto a conveyor provided with carriers 8 so as to obtain, on the conveyor, a uniform spacing of the rear faces of the objects, in particular for the purpose of sorting them according to their respective destinations, comprises means such as an admission slide 1 for bringing the objects onto an intermediate admission surface, e.g. a truncated cone 2. The cone 2 is surrounded by a skirt 3 forming a barrier and objects resting against the cone and the skirt are carried along by means of blades 6 carried by the cone 2 rotating in synchronism with the passage of the carriers 8. The objects pass through an opening in the skirt onto the carriers 8. The intermediate admission surface may be in the form of an endless belt which cooperates with a fixed barrier, the objects being carried along the barrier to a discharge opening by flights on the belt. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A device for loading objects onto a conveyor The present invention relates to a device for loading objects, for example parcels or items of luggage, onto a conveyor, without shock and automatically, so as to obtain, on the conveyor, a uniform spacing of the rear faces of the objects, in particular for the purpose of sorting them according to their respective destinations.

Various object sorting systems are known, in which the objects are supported by a conveyor of variable geometry (carriers with tilting plates, carriers with tilting wings, tilting balancelles, rotating plates and the like) or by a conveyor passing in front of ejection means (slings, push rods, disappearing doors, diverting devices, blowers and the like). These various conveyors are generally fed from several introduction stations. In any case, it is important to load the conveyor in a precise manner, either in order to prevent objects from falling between two carriers, or in order exactly to know the maximum space available for the objects on the conveyor. Moreover, a sorting system must not damage the objects and shocks are to be avoided, if only to reduce noise.

In addition, the particular case of sorting luggage by destination, in airports, frequently involves not a single item of luggage but a group of at least two items of luggage belonging to the same passenger and therefore having the same destination. To make maximum use of the sorting conveyor, it is recommended to place the luggage crosswise on the conveyor.

The present invention therefore aims to provide a device which makes it possible to load, at one or more known spacings, a conveyor or carriers linked to a conveyor, whilst avoiding, to the maximum extent, noise and the damage to objects, and hence to restore a synchronisation between given spacings and a feed system which may be asynchronous.

Various processes are known for loading carriers which support tilting plates, such as the process forming the subject of French Patent No. 73/12,826.

In the case of belt-loading, objects of essentially cylindrical shape are likely to fall out of the carriers. If the belt loads the carrier from the side, the imprecision in loading is equal to the width of the belt. If the belt is above the carriers, the objects drop a long way into the carriers and this is harmful and generates noise. In addition, it can be difficult in the case of objects of nonuniform shape, in particular soft parcels, with more or less transparent packaging, to determine a reference face.

The device for loading these carriers, which forms the subject of the present invention and is intended, in particular but not exclusively, for an automatic postal sorting unit for packets, comprises: 1. a parcel-dispensing unit which is essentially a single unit, 2. a conveyor on which coding is carried out, and 3. a continuous moving surface, separated into zones, which, after sliding, carries the parcels into the carriers, this moving surface being essentially synchronised with the carriers to be loaded.

According to the invention, a device for loading objects onto a conveyor, or into carriers connected to a conveyor, comprises means for bringing the objects onto a downwardly inclined, intermediate admission surface, a barrier means preventing objects deposited on said inclined surface from passing in uncontrolled manner off the lower edge of said inclined surface, and drive means associated with said inclined surface and driven in synchronisation with the conveyor for displacing objects along the barrier means towards an opening in the latter through which the objects are discharged onto the conveyor.

Said intermediate admission surface may be a plane or convex surface onto which the objects may be pushed by at least one stopblock at a speed close to that of the conveyor, the stop-blocks being synchronised with the required spacing on the conveyor. The objects slide from the intermediate admission surface onto the conveyor through said opening.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of one embodiment of a loading device according to the invention, the section being taken along a plane perpendicular to the axis of the sorting conveyor, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the downstream part of the device, Figure 3 is a perspective view of another arrangement of the downstream part of the device, Figure 4 is a perspective view illustrating a particular application of the invention to the loading of groups of two items of luggage onto a conveyor, and Figure 5 is a schematic sectional view of another embodiment of a loading device according to the invention.

In Fig. 1, parcels or packets arrive by means of an inclined belt 22 and are discharged into a storage chute 23 up to a sufficient level. This chute advantageously possesses shelves separating the parcels and facilitating their superposition. In addition, its sides are divergent in order to avoid any wedging of parcels. Furthermore, its flexible internal coating has a low coefficient of friction. By way of example, this chute can be made of polyester resin containing a glass fibre filler, which is packed inside, on the bottom and at the beginning of the sides, with noise-absorbing polyurethane foam, this foam itself being covered with a flexible material having a low coefficient of friction (e.g. the material known under the Trade Mark < evlar").

A belt 24 provided with stop-blocks, which is controlled by a set of photoelectric cells 26 and 27, placed at the discharge end of this belt, makes it possible to take up the parcels almost individually, so that they reach a presentation table 25 where they are positioned for the purpose of coding and/or are coded.

Between the presentation table 25 and an admission belt 4, one or more conveyor belts 9 can ensure that the parcels are carried as far as their loading device. Advantageously, these conveyor belts are inclined so that the parcels are positioned on the edge and in order to facilitate the work of the operators.

The coding can be carried out during the travel of the parcels on the conveyor belt(s) 9.

After coding, therefore, these parcels arrive on the admission belt 4 which transfers them onto an admission slide 1, the terminal shape of which is helical so that the parcels are presented essentially tangentially to a rotor 2 which has the general shape of a truncated cone. Any shock will thus be avoided, regardless of the dimensions of the parcel, during the passage from the slide 1 to the rotor 2.

The rotor 2 rotates inside a barrier means in the form of a fixed skirt 3 (see Fig. 2) which is also in the shape of a truncated cone but has the opposite orientation and is terminated at its lower end by a rim 5.

Having slid over the convex surface of the rotor 2, the parcels will stop on the fixed surfaces of the skirt 3 and of its rim 5. The slope of the rotor 2 is such that the parcels are not unduly accelerated, so that they are not damaged on arrival at the fixed skirt 3.

In order to absorb the noise of the shock of the parcels on the skirt 3, the latter can advantageously consist, at least opposite the slide 1, of a double wall 31, 32, the space defined between these two walls being filled with sand or with any other sound-proofing material.

The parcels resting against the rotor 2, against the skirt 3 and against the rim 5 are carried along by means of blades 6 carried by the rotor 2 rotating in synchronism with the passage of carriers 8. The tangential speed of the end of the rotor 2 is similar to the speed of the conveyor carrying the carriers 8. Thus, the rear face of the parcels in contact with the blades 6 will be essentially in contact with the rear face 81 of the carriers 8 after the parcels have slid over the inclined plane 7 which essentially extends the generatrices of the rotor 2 at the level of the gap for the passage of the parcels P through the skirt 3.

It is obvious that the inclined plane 7 could be replaced by a skew surface for connection between the circumference 10 of the base of the truncated cone 2 and the end of the wings of the carrier.

The possibility of loading a carrier 8 therefore corresponds to every passage of a blade 6. The actual spacing of the carriers corresponds to one turn of the rotor 2. On the other hand, the various zones delimited by the blades 6 are not necessarily equal but correspond to the distribution of the carriers 8, on their conveyor, at this actual spacing.

For example, the actual spacing of the carriers is 2.639 m, divided into two spacings of 0.812 m and one spacing of 1.015 m, so that 0.812 X 2 + 1.015 = 2.639 m.

The zones of the rotor 2 which are bounded by blades 6 are respectively 360 X 0.812/2.639 = 110.76' (twice) and 360 X 1.015/2.639 = 138.47 A parcel, regardless of its shape, which has been introduced onto the slide 1 will therefore in fact be positioned in a carrier. In order to avoid admission onto the slide 1 at the moment when the blades pass (in which case it would not be known in which carrier the parcel would be likely to be found), an information sensor 30, associated with an information 29 integral with the rotor 2, prevents the belt 4 from moving at the critical moment.It is obvious that the same result can be achieved by omitting the belt 4 and carrying out the admission by means of the conveyor belt or coding belt 9, but this can hinder the operators.

The synchronisation between the passage of the blades 6 and the passage of the carriers can be achieved electrically or mechanically by known means, for example by means of a power take-off on the chain of the conveyor, which, via a pinion, toothed wheel and chain, drives the shaft 14 of the rotor 2.

According to another embodiment represented schematically in Fig. 3, the rotor 2 is replaced by a band conveyor 1 2 equipped with stop-blocks 1 6, the function of which is identical to that of the blades 6 seen above.

The edge 1 3 has the same function as the skirt 3 in braking the parcels, so that they are carried along by the stop-blocks 1 6. Thus, at the gap 11 in the edge 1 3, the parcel is loaded into the carrier 8, the rear face 81 of which is synchronised with the stop-block 1 6, and the speeds of which are similar.Advantageously, and in order to prevent the parcels arriving on the edge 1 3 from receiving unduly rough shocks, the conveyor band 12 can be a skew band which can comprise: 1. a relatively slightly inclined part so that the parcels do not arrive too rapidly on the edge 13, 2. a more inclined part so that the parcels are braked to a greater extent by the edge and wait to be carried along by a stop-block 1 6, and 3. a less inclined part at the point where the carriers are loaded.

Conversely, the parcels can be admitted onto a sliding floor and taken up by a travelling band which forms a barrier means and carries drive stop-blocks. In this case, the gap 11 is formed by the end of the band forming the barrier means.

According to another embodiment represented schematically in Fig. 5, the band 12 can be replaced by a sliding floor 18, and only the bars 16, which are integral with links of parallel chains 1 7 carried by four pinions 19, one pair of which is mounted on a shaft 20, carry the parcels along. In this case, the edge 1 3 can be replaced, at least opposite the admission belt 4, by relatively flexible rollers intended to absorb the shock between the parcels. Advantageously, these rollers are in the shape of double truncated cones, every other one in the shape of a diabolo with the small bases of the truncated cones in contact, and the others having their large bases in contact.

In order to facilitate the mechanical production of the power take-off between the conveyor 28 and the bars 1 6, the shaft 20 can advantageously be inclined by the same angle as the conveyor 28.

A valuable application of the embodiment described above is found in the case of sorting luggage or groups of items of luggage in, for example, airports.

In fact, in Fig. 4, a group of items of luggage belonging to the same passenger and having the same destination is recorded on an introduction belt 33, led onto a collecting conveyor 9 and must be introduced onto a sorting conveyor 28. During the various transfers, gaps are produced between items of luggage of the same group and, depending on the nature of the items of luggage, the position of their centre of gravity and the like, a significant splitting-up of the luggage is observed. If, therefore, the luggage were introduced directly onto the sorting conveyor, the zone in question for each group of luggage on the automatic sorting conveyor 28 would be very large, all the more so because the luggage then tends to position itself lengthwise on the latter.In order to ensure an adequate throughput for the installation, it would be necessary to increase the speed of the sorting conveyor and this would lead to additional noise and would increase the widths of the discharge chutes.

In order to overcome these disadvantages, the luggage arriving from the collecting conveyor 9 is transferred onto an admission band 4 which introduces it onto an inclined band 1 2 where it comes into contact with the edge 1 3 on waiting to be carried along by the stopblocks 1 6 which circulate approximately at the speed of the conveyor 28.At the point where the edge is interrupted, the luggage slides from the inclined band 1 2 onto the conveyor 28 where the rear face of the luggage is distributed in strict synchronisation with the stopblocks 1 6. Advantageously, the edge can be inclined, relative to the direction of the band 1 2, in order to ensure the stability of the luggage stopped by the edge 13, taking account of the friction of the band on the luggage, this friction generating a force which tends to tilt the luggage.

The conveyor 28 can consist of carriers, as described above; alternatively, it can be a conveyor band or a pallet-type conveyor. In these cases, it is advantageously inclined in order to facilitate the sliding from the conveyor 1 2, which can facilitate the subsequent sorting, for example by means of a system of disappearing doors as described in French Patent No. 74/42,723.The inclination of the sorting conveyor 28, the function of which is to carry the parcels along without damaging them by an unduly large amount of friction on its side, is smaller than that of the conveyor 1 2. In particular, this conveyor is advantageously a conveyor with flexible pallets which are mounted on a universal chain circulating in a rail which is composed of profiles and is such as described in French Patent 1 ,239,470. The inclination of the conveyor unit is achieved by placing a vertical curve before a 90 curve located in the oblique plane and given by the vertical curve. The same principle described above for loading objects onto a conveyor, mainly for the purpose of the automatic sorting thereof, can also be used, for example, for the automatic loading of parcels onto balancelles joined to an overhead conveyor.

In order to facilitate the introduction of the parcels, the balancelle can be inclined by resting on a ramp.

Claims

1. A device for loading objects onto a conveyor, comprising means for bringing the objects onto a downwardly inclined, intermediate admission surface, a barrier means preventing objects deposited on said inclined surface from passing in uncontrolled manner off the lower edge of said inclined surface, and drive means associated with said inclined surface and driven in synchronisation with the conveyor for displacing objects along the barrier means towards an opening in the latter through which the objects are discharged onto the conveyor.

2. A device according to claim 1, in which said inclined surface is a truncated cone, the objects being admitted onto the surface adjacent the smaller end of the conical surface in a plane which is essentially tangential to the truncated cone, the truncated cone being rotated and carrying at least one sweeping blade.

3. A device according to claim 2, in which said barrier means is in the form of a fixed skirt surrounding the rotor, said skirt being in the shape of a truncated cone with its wider part uppermost and possessing a side opening past which the conveyor travels.

4. A device according to claim 1, in which said inclined surface is formed by an inclined band conveyor carrying stop-blocks and circulating at a speed which is approximately equal to that of the conveyor onto which the objects are to be loaded.

5. A device according to claim 1, in which said inclined surface is formed by a sliding floor, the objects being carried along by at least one stop-block, the movement of which is synchronised with the movement of the conveyor.

6. A device according to claim 1, in which said inclined surface is formed by a sliding floor, the objects being carried along by a conveyor belt which forms said barrier means and carries at least one stop-block, the floor possessing an opening for discharging the objects.

7. A device according to any of the preceding claims, in which said means for bringing the objects onto the intermediate admission surface comprises a cascade chute, the sides of which are divergent, which chute is followed by an elevator belt with stop-blocks, the end of which is joined to at least one conveyor belt, the said conveyor belt communicating with an intermediate admission slide.

8. A device according to claim 7, in which the cascade chute and the admission slide are made of a flexible material which comprises a layer of polyurethane foam sandwiched between a layer of polyester resin and a layer of flexible material which has a low coefficient of friction.

9. A device according to claim 7 or 8, in which the conveyor belt located between the elevator belt and the admission slide is inclined, relative to the horizontal, in order to facilitate a coding operation.

10. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the part of the barrier means receiving the objects comprises two walls, between which is located a soundabsorbing material.

11. A device according to claim 3, in which the portion of the barrier means which stops the admitted objects is at an angle, relative to the direction of movement of the band conveyor, so as to retain the distance between the objects.

1 2. A device according to claim 4, in which the conveyor band is skewed so as to carry out an admission at a speed which is approximately equal to the actual speed of the objects, this first part being followed by a more inclined part so that the friction between the objects and the said band is sufficiently reduced for the conveyor to be driven only by the drive elements.

1 3. A device according to claim 4 or 12, in which the conveyor band is skewed so as to reduce the inclination thereof at the point where the objects are loaded onto the sorting conveyor.

14. A device according to claim 5 or 6, in which the sliding floor is formed, on the one hand, by a zone having a relatively large coefficient of friction, in which zone the objects are only carried along by the drive elements, and, on the other hand, by a zone having a relatively smaller coefficient of friction.

1 5. A device according to claim 5, 6 or 14, in which the part of the barrier means which receives the objects comprises flexible rollers.

1 6. A device according to claim 15, in which the flexible rollers are in the shape of double truncated cones mounted alternately with the large bases and the small bases in contact.

1 7. A device according to any of the preceding claims, in which the conveyor to be loaded is a conveyor with carriers.

1 8. A device according to claim 1, in which, when the objects to be transferred consist of luggage, a group of items of luggage is transferred from a conveyor belt onto an intermediate, inclined admission belt where it comes into contact with said barrier means, is carried along by a stop-block and falls onto a conveyor at the point where the barrier means is interrupted.

1 9. A device according to any of the preceding claims, in which drive means is arranged along a generatrix of said inclined surface.

20. A device for loading objects onto a conveyor constructed and arranged substantially as herein described with reference to, and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, Figures 1 and 3, Figure 4 or Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.