US1136571A - Routing apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

F. G. WHITTIEH.

nouTlNG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8. 1914.

1,136,571 Patented Aprgzo, 1915.

dif/2 Q 5395 z /27 ex/Mr. m @.WM muy UNITED STATES FREDERICK G. WHTTIER, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSGNOR T THE LAMSON CQMPANY,'QF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORIPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

PATENT oEEicE.

ROUTING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 2o, 1915,

Original application'led October 28, 19.12, Serial No. 728,049.l Divided and this application led January 8, 1914. Serial No. 810,983.

\ offices and the like, where very large numbers of packages, bundles, etc., must be eX peditiously and eiiiciently handled during relatively7 limited periods of time, and the' present application which is a division of my application for United States Letters Patent, filed October 28, 1912, and entitled Routing apparatus, Serial-No. 728,049, relates more particularly to a modification described in the parent application but not claimed therein. v

In business places of the above indicated type, space is usually of very great importance and the package handling system should,` in the first place, be as compact as possible. l

It further should, preferably, be adapted vto deliver the goods to a plurality of points where they may be conveniently marked by, for example, va number of employees of the establishment whose duty it is to label or mark upon the respective packages the symbol of the bin or repository into which such packages are to be deposited, 'so that goods intended to be delivered to patricular localities may be assembled inl groups or batches preparatory to shipment.

It is highlydesirable that the apparatus be of simple construction and that it be,l

adapted to deliver thev packages to the points where they are to be labeled in substantially consecutive order so that the goods first` con'- veyed to the routing table may in general be the first to be labeled or handled, and so on. The apparatus also should provide for a relatively slow movement ofI the packages over the table, and that substantially toward the labeling points or operatives rather tha laterally with respect to the same.

These and other objects of my invention, will be hereinafter' referred to and the novel means and combinatlons of elements whereby they may be attained will be more particularly set forth in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, which forms a part hereof, .I have shown a preferred form of the apparatus in question; but I am aware that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention and hence desire to 'be limited only by the scope of said claims. l Referring to the dra-wing: the ligure is a perspective view of a routing table constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention.

In the exemplication of the apparatus shown, the table proper is provided with a sloping or inclined surface which is adapted to spread or distribute the parcels or packages, delivered thereto, toward the stations 2 at which said packages are labeled,

stamped, or otherwise treated.. In the present instance the stations 2 are distinct from the surface 1, and comprise preferably horizontally disposed surfaces or tables which are separated from the inclined surface 1 by beads or flanges 3. which provide means forl may vstand and it will be. observed that by' reason of the distributing action of the surface 1, and particularly in view of its coaction with the beltand deflector hereinafter referred to, stations 2 may extend or be disposed along the length of a considerable portion of the periphery of the table, permitting of a number of operatives simultaneously handling the packages. If desired, the sides of the table may be provided with flanges 5, or the like, to prevent the inadvertent dropping of parcels thereover and I' prefer to vprovide suitable conveying means such, for example, as the belt 6, for delivering the parcels or packages to substantially the uppermost portion of the surface l.

There is a particular co-action between a belt which delivers laterally thereof to the `sloping table, and said table since by means,

sively and to a considerable extent differentially unloaded from the ybelt or conveying means on to the table While at the same time the unloaded packages tendto distribute themselves over the surface of the table as they are allowed to descend step by step toward the arresting means 3; this step by step movement of the parcels being imparted thereto by reason of the successive re-Y moval of parcels by the operatives. There is therefore obtained a quite automatic distribution of the incoming packages or parcels toward the respective stations. Those packages which are first delivered to the table, Will, of course, slide down until they engage the beading or arresting means 3 and will thus serve to retain packages to the rear thereof upon the inclined surface so that only as the first packages are removed can succeeding ones descend into engagement with said beading.

If desired, the beading may be enlarged or more extendedly flanged, as at 8, immediately adjacent the spaces 4 in which the operatives stand, so as to prevent packages, by any chance, sliding ofi' fromlthe table into said spaces. It will be noted that the Width of the table'is preferably very considerably greater lthan that of the conveyin 0' means. The lattermay be of any desired type of construction but I prefer to use a belt conveyer of any well known description adapted to the purpose in question.

Outside of the stations Q, which are located along the front edge of the routing table, is, 'in the present case, a conveying belt 9 which rides in a channel 10 in a Well known manner. The channel or trough 10 may be supported upon uprights 11 and preferably contains both the upper and lower portions of the belt, as indicated in the figure.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The incoming packages which are delivered by the conveying means 6 are deposited upon the surface 1 and automatically apportion themselves to the respective stations 2. The operatives occupying the spaces 4 pick up thc lowermost packages which are in engagement with the beadin or flanges 3 and 8 and label them according to their ultimate destination, preferably placing thereon ,the number of the bin or receptacle into which such packages are to be deposited; the label or stamp being applied while the package reposes upon the surface 1. Thereafter. said packages are4 placed l upon the belt '9 from which they may be removed by operatives stationed adjacent the bins, not shown, since these latter form no part of the present invention.

One great advantage of the present construction is that the package immediately behind the onewhich has been picked `up by an Operative after labeling, or for the purpose of being labeled, automatically slides down toward the same operative in almost all cases, so that the general consecutive order of the packages is v,not materially disturbed. The movement of; the packages over the surface 1 is, of course, more or less a step by step one and relatively sloW, depending upon the speed of the operative; but a package having once arrived opposite a given operative, remains stationary and convenient to his hand until he removes the same from said surface. v y

It may be Well, in conclusion,l` to dWel somewhat upon the importance of the disposition of the conveying means 6, in the exemplified form of my apparatus. As stated, the extended spreader or def1ector'7 preferably extends substantially the entire stantially in order except Where possibly a large parcel may carry a small one with it. It is to be particularly noted, however, that where the spreading means employed is such an extended deflector, the general angleof divergence of the latter from the line of travel of the conveyer should be but small. The surface 1 may be given an inclination of, let us say,.23 degrees, and I have found in practice that this relatively slight inclination affords most statisfactory results 'for paper covered parcels-and the li re.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is: Y

1. The combination of a stationary routing table of sufficient extent to provide a Vplurality of 4operating stations, means of materially less Width, than said table for conveying articles toward the table, article defiecting means for causing said conveying means to deliver laterally .thereof toward said table, said table having a pronounced downward slope and a smooth surface whereby to spread the so delivered articles over its surface substantially toward said stations by gravity, and means for stopping and accumulating said articles at each of ysaid stations. i

2. The combination of a wide stationary routing table of sufficient extent to provide a plurality of operating stations, conveying means, the Width of which is less than half the Width of said table, for conveying articles toward the table, article deflecting means, ythe overall length of Which is substantially equal to the Width of said table, for removing articles from said conveying means and depositing them according to size upon successive portions o f said table, said table sloping downwardly from said conveying means to cause the articles deposited thereupon to move downwardly thereover toward said stations by gravity, and means to cause said articles to accumulate upon the sloping surface of the table until said articles are removed therefrom by the operatives at said stations;

3. The combination of a routing table of suflicient extent to provide a plurality of operating stations, compartments for the operatives at said stations, means for materially less width than said table for conveying articles toward and delivering them laterally, with respect to said means, to the table, said conveying and delivering means 4 including a device for selectively unloading articles of successively decreasing size normally successively on to said table along the extent thereof, saidy table being sloped to deliver articles upon the surface thereof sequentially toward said stations as the lowermost packages upon said table are removed. and means to accumulate articles upon the sloping surface of said table adjacent said compartments.

4. The combination of a stationary routing table of sufficient extent to provide a plurality of operating stations, conveying means, at a higher level than said stations, to carry articles to said table, said conveying means traveling along an extended edge of said table, means to remove large articlesfirst and thereafter successively smaller articles from said conveying means, and de-` posit them upon said table substantially sequentially according to' size, said table being sloped downwardly from said extended edge thereof toward said stations and having stationary means at said stations to cause said articles to accumulate upon the sloping table surface.

5. The combination of a. stationary sorting table of sufficient extent to provide a plurality of stationsfor operatives, the surface of said table being generally inclined to the horizontal at such an angle as to permit of the articles to be handled sliding downwardly thereover, means for conveying articles toward said table; a device for unloading articles from said conveying means laterally with respect to said means on to said table, articles deposited on the latter from said conveying means moving downwardly over said surface by the action of gravity substantially directly toward said stations, stationary means for limiting the downward movement of, and retaining said articles at said stations, a series of spaced individual supports adjacent said movement limiting means, and means extending past said supports for conveying the assorted articles from said table.

In testimony whereof I have ailixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

y FREDERICK G. VVHITTIER.

Witnesses:

y S. B. PITMAN,

M. E. HERsoM. v

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