US20020066991A1

US20020066991A1 - Selective tag applicator

Info

Publication number: US20020066991A1
Application number: US09/729,263
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard King; Jose Lopes; William Skidmore; B. Speckhart
Original assignee: White Conveyors Inc
Current assignee: White Conveyors Inc
Priority date: 2000-12-01
Filing date: 2000-12-01
Publication date: 2002-06-06

Abstract

A tagging apparatus configured to selectively tag articles on a conveyor, such as hooked members by activating an automated tag injector to apply a tag to a selected article or hooked member. The automated tag injector has a linear slide moveably mounted inside, and a motor and a separating mechanism both coupled to the linear slide. The linear slide is driven by the motor. The movement of the linear slide activates the separating mechanism to separate a foremost tag from a remainder of tags. The linear slide applies the tag to an object. When the tags are connected to one another in a roll, the automated tag injector, mounted adjacent to a conveyor, can be configured to separate the tag from the roll, and apply the separated tag to a hooked member on the conveyor while the hooked member is moving on the conveyor along the conveyor path. A computer system in conjunction with a counting device, such as a photo sensor and reflector, when connected to the automated tag injector, creates an automated tagging system by activating the automated tag injector after determining a location of the slot holding a selected hooked member, the speed of the conveyor, and the speed of the automated tag injector. The automated tagging system can be used to create an automated sorting system. In the automated sorting system, the automated tag injector may tag either the first or last article belonging to each distinct group of articles before unsorted articles on a conveyor are removed and sorted into different groups. The tagged articles visually separate each distinct group from the other adjacent groups after all the articles have been sorted into the different groups and the groups are placed next to one another.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device and method for selectively tagging articles on a conveyor.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Conventional identification and sorting methods have been used in many industries, such as dry cleaning, for taking unsorted articles and ensuring that they are appropriately separated into their respective groups and reach their appropriate destinations.

Identification methods have been known to correlate an article with identifying information about the owner, but they require the identifying information for each article to be entered and/or marked on the article before the article is placed on the conveyor, such as by placing a readable laser thread or bar code on a hanger or directly on the article. In addition, such identification methods require substantial manual input from an operator to enter the identifying information into a computer system, such as scanning the identification information as the articles are being loaded onto the conveyor.

Automated sorting methods also have been known in which articles are sorted into different groups based on group identification information on each article, and to move the articles belonging to a group from a conveyor with unsorted articles onto a rail or another conveyor. However, such automated sorting methods do not provide for the application of any visual indicator to show the start and end of each group of articles once the articles are sorted and the groups are placed adjacent to one another, such as on a rail in a delivery truck.

In order to apply a visual indicator to show the start and/or end of each group of articles, an operator stops the sorting process after each group to manually place a visual indicator on the first and/or last article in a group, such as by tying a rag to the last hanger in a group. This process of manually applying a visual indicator is inefficient, because the conveyor and sorting process need to be stopped and restarted for each group of articles sorted and moved from the conveyor to the rail.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a tagging apparatus to selectively tag articles on a conveyor, such as hooked members which can be hangers supporting garments thereon. The tagging apparatus in the present invention may include an automated sorting system to be used on an existing conveyor system with minimal, if any, manual operation to apply a visual indicator to separate groups of articles from each other after the groups are sorted and removed from the conveyor.

In one embodiment, the tagging apparatus includes a plurality of tags and an automated tag injector or device. The automated tag injector of the present invention has a linear slide moveably mounted inside, and a motor and a separating mechanism both coupled to the linear slide. Actuation of the motor drives the linear slide's movement. The separating mechanism is activated by the linear slide's movement to separate a tag at the end of the roll from the rest of the roll, and the linear slide tags the article by moving towards the article and applying the tag to the article.

The automated tag injector, when mounted adjacent to a conveyor, may be configured to separate a tag at the end of a roll of connected tags from the rest of the roll, hold onto the separated tag and apply the separated tag to an article, such as a hooked member or hanger on the conveyor while the hooked member is being transported by the conveyor along the conveyor's path. The operation of the automated tag injector does not impede or affect the movement of articles along the conveyor.

The present invention can be transformed into an automated tagging system by using the automated tag injector in conjunction with a counting device and a computer system once the computer system has selected a particular hooked member to be tagged. The counting device and computer system together may determine a location of the slot holding the particular hooked member, the speed of the conveyor, and when the slot passes a pre-designated location on the conveyor path. The counting device may include a photo sensor and a reflector both mounted at the pre-designated location, but on opposite sides of a conveyor. A beam of light initially transmitted by the photo sensor is reflected by the reflector back to the photo sensor every time a slot passes the pre-designated location and a window in the slot exposes the photo sensor to the reflector. The photo sensor may transmit a signal to the computer system for every reflected beam of light to enable the computer system to count how many slots had passed the pre-designated location, and to determine the speed of the conveyor. The computer system may use this information in order to determine when to activate the automated tag injector to tag the particular hooked member in a particular slot on the conveyor.

Additionally, the automated tagging system may be made part of an automated sorting system. In the automated sorting system, the automated tag injector may tag either the first or last article belonging to each distinct group of articles before unsorted articles on a conveyor are removed and sorted into different groups. The tagged articles, by marking the start or end of each distinct group, visually separate each distinct group from the other adjacent groups after all the articles have been sorted into the different groups and the groups are placed next to one another on a rail upon another conveyor.

Alternatively, a series of automated tag injectors may be used together to tag unsorted articles on a conveyor with different colored tags for each group of articles, before sorting all the articles into the separate groups. The different colored tags may be used, for example, on the necks of each hooked member to indicate a size of the garment suspended therefrom.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of an automated tag injector according to the present invention. [0012]
FIG. 2 illustrates a full sectional view of the first embodiment of the device of FIG. 1. [0013]
FIGS. [0014] 3A-3D illustrates a change in positioning of the elements in the first embodiment of the device of FIG. 1 relative to the article to be tagged.
FIG. 3A illustrates a partial sectional view of the first embodiment of the device of FIG. 1 in a retracted position. [0015]
FIG. 3B illustrates a partial sectional view of the first embodiment of the device of FIG. 1 in an engaged position. [0016]
FIG. 3C illustrates a top partial view of the first embodiment of the device illustrated in FIG. 3A. [0017]
FIG. 3D illustrates a top partial view of the first embodiment of the device illustrated in FIG. 3B. [0018]
FIG. 4 illustrates a partial perspective view of the first embodiment of the device illustrated in FIG. 1. [0019]
FIGS. [0020] 5A-5B illustrates a front and back partial sectional views of the first embodiment of the device of FIG. 1 mounted onto a conveyor.
FIG. 5A illustrates a front partial sectional view of the first embodiment of the device of FIG. 1 mounted onto a conveyor. [0021]
FIG. 5B illustrates a back partial sectional view of the device illustrated in FIG. 5A. [0022]
FIG. 6 illustrates a side partial sectional view of a counting device of the present invention mounted onto a conveyor. [0023]
FIG. 7 illustrates a partial perspective view of the conveyor of the present invention. [0024]
FIG. 8 illustrates a partial sectional view of an automated tag injector and a counting device of the present invention mounted on a conveyor to tag articles suspended from the conveyor. [0025]
FIG. 9 illustrates a full sectional view of the device illustrated in FIG. 8. [0026]
FIG. 10 illustrates a first flowchart of an operation of a sorting system utilizing the automated tag injector of the present invention. [0027]
FIG. 11 illustrates a second flowchart of an operation of a sorting system utilizing the automated tag injector of the present invention. [0028]
FIG. 12 illustrates an automated sorting system of the present invention. [0029]
FIG. 13 illustrates the layout of garments on a rail after being tagged and sorted using the automated sorting system of FIG. 12. [0030]
FIG. 14 illustrates an automated size marking system of the present invention. [0031]
FIG. 15 illustrates a garment tagged with a pre-printed tag indicating the size of the garment by utilizing the automated size marking system of FIG. 14. [0032]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a tagging apparatus to selectively tag articles on a conveyor, such as hooked members which can be hangers supporting garments thereon. The tagging apparatus in the present invention may be made part of an automated sorting system to be used on an existing conveyor with minimal, if any, manual operation to apply a visual indicator to separate groups of articles from each other after the groups are sorted and removed from the conveyor. [0033]
FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of [0034] tags 20, such as a roll of connected tags 21 is part of a tagging apparatus 1, along with an automated tag injector or device 100 which may be mounted to housing 30 which is mounted to a fixed frame 32 suspended from the ceiling or wall. As detailed in FIGS. 2-3, the automated tag injector 100 has a linear slide 70 movably mounted inside, and a motor 40 and separating mechanism 60, both coupled to the linear slide 70. A portion of the tags 20 may be retained in the linear slide 70. The tags 20 may be retained by threading the roll 21 through the linear slide 70.
As shown in FIGS. [0035] 3A-3D, actuation of the motor 40 drives the movement of the linear slide 70. The linear slide 70 may be movably mounted so that it moves towards the article 10 to be tagged in a tagging movement from a retracted configuration in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3C to an engaged configuration in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3D. The linear slide 70 may also move away from the article 10 in a reloading movement from the engaged configuration in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3D to the retracted position in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3C. The linear slide's tagging movement activates the separating mechanism 60 to separate a foremost tag 22 from the rest of the tags 20 on the roll 21. The linear slide 70 may apply the foremost tag 22 to the article 10 after the tag 22 is separated or the tag 22 may be separated by the separating mechanism 60 after the tag 22 has been applied to the article 10. During the linear slide's reloading movement, the linear slide 70 may reload for tagging the next article 10 with a new tag which may then be the foremost tag 22 at the end of the roll 21.
As shown in FIGS. [0036] 3A-3B, the motor 40 can have a variety of configurations. The motor 40 may include a crankshaft 41 rotatably coupled to the linear slide 70 via a connecting rod 42, such that a revolution of the crankshaft 41 moves the connecting rod 42, for example, in a linear direction, and the connecting rod's movement drives the tagging and reloading movements of the linear slide 70. A single revolution of the crankshaft 41 drives the linear slide 70 to activate the separating mechanism 60 as well as driving the linear slide 70 to apply the tag 22 to the article 10. The single revolution of the crankshaft 41 may also drive the reloading of the linear slide 70. In one embodiment, the first half of the crankshaft's clockwise revolution may drive the linear slide's tagging movement, and the second half of the revolution may drive the linear slide's reloading movement.
The [0037] crankshaft 41 may be connected to a clutch 44, such that a revolution of the crankshaft 41 may be driven by the clutch 44, such as a single-revolution clutch 45. The clutch 44 is energized with power permitted to flow from a clutch power supply 47 when a clutch relay 48 is closed and completes the connection from the clutch power supply 47 to the clutch 44. The crankshaft 41 may automatically disengage from the energized clutch 44 after the energized clutch 44 drives one revolution of the crankshaft 41. A computer system 80 connected to the clutch relay 48 may be configured to control the automated tag injector 100 by being designed with a capability of sending a trigger signal 81 to close the clutch relay 48, thus energizing the clutch 44 and driving the revolution of the crankshaft 41.
As shown in FIGS. [0038] 3A-3D, the activation of the separating mechanism 60 and the application of the tag 22 to an article 10 by the linear slide 70 may be facilitated by the interaction of the linear slide 70 with a number of additional components in the automated tag injector 100. The automated tag injector 100 may include a slide base plate 71, a slide top plate 72, a tag guide roller 73 and a tag edge guide 74 through which to guide the roll of tags 21 when it is threaded through the linear slide 70. Additionally, the roll of tags 21 may have notches 24 on a side 66 of the roll 21, and the automated tag injector 100 may include a slide pawl 75 to help drive the end 23 of the roll of tags towards the article 10 to be tagged. As detailed in FIG. 3D, the slide pawl 75 engages a notch 25 on the side 66 of the roll 21 when the linear slide 70 begins its tagging movement and couples the end 23 of the roll 21 with the linear slide 70, so that the end 23 of the roll 21 moves along with the linear slide 70 towards the article 10. By engaging the notch 25 on the side 66 of the roll 21, the slide pawl 75 may draw additional tags 20 from the roll 21 around the tag guide roller 73 and through the linear slide 70.
The [0039] separating mechanism 60 which separates the foremost tag 22 from the rest of the roll 21 may be a cutting mechanism 61 and have different types of cutting surfaces 68. A cutting edge may be used to separate the foremost tag 22. Alternatively, one or more cutting pins 63, such as two pins 63 as shown in FIG. 3C-3D, may be used to separate the foremost tag 22 if connecting tabs 28 are used to connect each of the tags 20 to the other tags 20 in the roll 21. The two cutting pins 63 may separate the foremost tag 22 by being pushed against the connecting tabs 28 with a force strong enough to break the tabs 28. As shown in FIG. 3B, once the connecting tabs 28 have been broken, the two cutting pins 63 may engage the edges 29 of the broken tabs 28 to retain the foremost tag 22 in the linear slide 70 until the linear slide 70 applies the foremost tag 22 onto the article 10.
The [0040] cutting mechanism 61 may include a cam roller 64 and cutting cam 65 to drive the motion of the cutting pins 63. The cutting pins 63 may be mounted to the cutting cam 65. The cutting cam 65 may be connected to the linear slide 70 so that the cutting cam 65 moves along with the linear slide 70 towards and away from the article 10. The cutting cam 65 may start to engage the cam roller 64 near the end of the linear slide's tagging movement. The engaged cam roller 64 may drive the motion of the cutting pins 63 by squeezing down on the cutting cam 65 and thus pushing the cutting pins 63 against the connecting tabs 28 that connect the foremost tag 22 to the rest of the roll 21, thus breaking the connecting tabs 28. As shown in FIG. 3B, the cam roller 64 may have an eccentric adjuster 62 to assist the cutting cam 65 to engage the cam roller 64. The continued pressure by the cam roller 64 on the cutting cam 65 throughout the end of the linear slide's tagging movement keeps the cutting pins 63 lightly engaged with the edges 29 of the broken connecting tabs 28 until the linear slide 70 applies the tag 22 to the article 10.
As detailed in FIG. 4, the application of the [0041] tag 20 to the article 10 is facilitated by the shape 33 of the tag 20. Each tag 20 may be shaped with a narrow opening 34 at one end 35 connecting with an inner aperture 36, so that when the tag 20 is applied to the article 10, the tag 20 encircles a part of the article 10 and becomes secured to the article 10. The narrow opening 34 may have angled edges 37 so that the last part of the linear slide's forward movement provides sufficient force to apply the tag 20 securely to the article 10. The inner edges 38 of the narrow opening 34 form jaws 39 which secure the tag 20 to the article 10 when the linear slide 70 begins to reload and move away from the article 10.
As shown in FIG. 3C, after separating and applying the [0042] foremost tag 22 at the end 23 of the roll to the article 10, during the linear slide's reloading movement, the automated tag injector 100 may have a stationary pawl 76 to engage another notch 26 on the side 66 of the roll 21 to prevent the roll 21 from moving in reverse during the linear slide's reloading movement. The stationary pawl 76 thus maintains the position of the tag 20 at the end 23 of the roll 21 with respect to the article 10 when the linear slide 70 moves away from the article 10 to reload for the application of the next tag 20 now at the end 23 of the roll 21 to the article 10.
As shown in FIGS. [0043] 5A-5B, the automated tag injector 100 may be specifically adapted to tag articles 10, such as hooked members 12 on a conveyor 50. The automated tag injector 100, when mounted adjacent to a conveyor 50, may be configured to separate a foremost tag 22 from the end 23 of the roll 21 and apply the separated foremost tag 22 to the neck of a hooked member 12 on the conveyor 50 while the hooked member 12 is being transported along a conveyor path 52 by the conveyor 50. The operation of the automated tag injector 100 does not impede or affect the movement of hooked members 12 along the conveyor 50.
The present invention can be transformed into an [0044] automated tagging system 2 by connecting a computer system 80 to the automated tag injector 100. The computer system 80 may be configured to select the hooked member 15 to be tagged and activate the automated tag injector 100 to tag the neck 14 of the selected hooked member 15. The computer system 80 may select the hooked member 15 by referencing a database 82 correlating each hooked member's identification information with the position of that hooked member 12 on the conveyor 50.
The identification and position information for each hooked [0045] member 12 may be entered into the database 82 when that hooked member 12 is loaded onto the conveyor 50. An operator may enter information manually (e.g., by punching the information into a keypad connected to the computer system). The operator may scan the information into the computer system 80 by scanning a bar code or laser thread on the garment or hooked member.
Alternatively, the identification and position information for each hooked [0046] member 12 may be entered into the database 82 after the hooked member 12 has been loaded onto the conveyor 50. A scanner 83 mounted next to the conveyor 50 and connected to the computer system 80 may scan the identification and position information into the computer system 80 as the hooked members 12 are being transported along the conveyor 50.
Once the hooked [0047] member 15 to be tagged has been selected, the computer system 80 activates the automated tag injector 100 to tag the selected hooked member 15. The computer system 80 measures the location of the selected hooked member 15 such as the slot 16 on the conveyor 50 holding the selected hooked member 15, the speed of the conveyor 50 and the speed of the automated tag injector 100. The computer system 80 may use these measurements to determine when to send a trigger signal 81 to close the clutch relay 48 and activate the automated tag injector 100 to tag the selected hooked member 15.
As shown in FIGS. [0048] 6-9, a counting device 84 connected to the computer system 80 comprised of a photo sensor 85 and a reflector 86 may help the computer system 80 automatically measure the location of the slot 16 holding the selected hooked member 15 and the speed of the conveyor 50.
The [0049] photo sensor 85 and a reflector 86 may be mounted at the pre-designated location 87, but on opposite sides of a conveyor 50. A beam of light 89 initially transmitted by the photo sensor 85 is reflected by the reflector 86 back to the photo sensor 85 every time a slot 53 passes the pre-designated location 87 and a window 54 in the slot 53 exposes the photo sensor 85 to the reflector 86.
The [0050] photo sensor 85 may transmit a signal 91 to the computer system 80 for every reflected beam of light 89 to enable the computer system 80 to count how many slots 53 had passed the pre-designated location 87. The computer system 80 may determine the conveyor's speed by measuring how much time elapses between each transmitted signal 91. The photo sensor 85 may transmit a reset signal 90 to the computer system 80 to reset the computer system's counting when a reference slot 56 on the conveyor 50 configured with a window 55 larger than the other windows 54 on the conveyor 50 passes the pre-designated location 87. The larger reference window 55 will be recognized by the computer system 80 by resulting in a longer transmission of the signal 91 to the computer system 80.
Additionally, a [0051] hanger photo sensor 88 mounted adjacent to the pre-designated location 87 may enable the computer system 80 to verify the presence of the selected hooked member 15 in the slot 16. The hanger photo sensor 88 may transmit a hanger signal 93 to the computer system 80 when it determines a presence for a hooked member 15 in the slot 16 at the pre-designated location 87 by sensing a reflected beam of light 92.
The [0052] automated tag injector 100 may also have additional features to increase the safety and flexibility of the automated tagging system 2. As shown in FIG. 5A, the automated tag injector 100 may have an interlock switch 95 to disable the motor 40 whenever a cover 31 on the housing 30 is open, thus preventing possible human injury which may result from moving parts inside. The automated tag injector 100 may also have an operator pushbutton 96 under the cover 31 to manually operate the clutch 44, if an operator would like to hand feed the tags 20, such as when changing rolls 21. The operator would need to lift the cover 31 to access the operator pushbutton 96, and lifting the cover 31 would disable the motor 40 to prevent human injury.
Additionally, the [0053] automated tag injector 100 may be equipped with two sensors 97 and 98. First, as shown in FIG. 8, an “out-of-tags” sensor 97 may be built into the automated tag injector 100 to sound an alarm (or optionally signal to the computer system 80 to stop the conveyor 50) if the roll of tags 21 runs out or breaks. Second, a slide position sensor 98 may be built into the automated tag injector 100 to detect if the linear slide 70 is not in an appropriate position relative to the conveyor 50, such as being in a ready position to move forward and apply a tag 22 to a hooked member 15 upon receiving a trigger signal 81 from the computer system 80. If an abnormal condition is detected, such as the automated tag injector 100 being too close to the conveyor 50 during operation of the conveyor 50, the slide position sensor 98 may be configured to send the conveyor 50 into an emergency stop, again to prevent possible human injury or damage to hooked members 12 or the garments 13 which may be suspended therefrom.
The automated [0054] tagging system 2 may be made part of an automated sorting system 3, as shown in FIGS. 9-12. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the operation of the automated sorting system 3 that utilizes the automated tagging system 2. In the automated sorting system 3, a large group of articles 10 or garments belonging to one of a number of groups, are loaded onto a conveyor 50, such as a recirculating loop garment conveyor 51 (step 315). Each article 10 may have unique information identifying the article's group, which may be entered into a database 82 in a computer system 80 either manually or automatically (by,for example, scanning a bar code label on the article 10 or laser thread or an RF chip), when the article 10 is loaded onto the conveyor 50 (step 320), or (as described above) scanned into the computer system 80 by a scanner 83 mounted next to the conveyor as the articles 10 are moving along the conveyor path 52.
When the group identification information is entered as the [0055] articles 10 are being loaded, the articles 10 may be loaded sequentially, such that each article's physical location on the conveyor 50 is related to the article's group identification information. As the conveyor 50 fills up, the database 82 may fill with related pairs of information: the article's position on the conveyor 50, paired with the article's group identification information. When the last location in the conveyor is filled, the computer system 80 may act according to its programmed instructions to start the conveyor and select one group of the number of groups present on the conveyor 50, creating a list of conveyor physical locations corresponding to the articles 10 in the selected group (steps 330 and 335).
The [0056] computer system 80 may select the article 10 to be tagged by determining the physical location of the first and/or last article 10 belonging to the select group (step 340). After selecting the article 10, the computer system 80 will determine when to send a trigger signal 81 to activate the automated the automated tag injector 100, and apply a foremost tag 22 to the selected article 10 (step 345). The computer system 80 may then begin the sorting process by moving the articles 10 in the select group from the conveyor 50 onto either another conveyor or onto a rail 99 for distribution (step 350). The computer system 80 may then continue the sorting process by tagging the first and/or last article 10 belonging to a second select group, and removing the articles 10 in that group from the conveyor 50 onto the rail 99, adjacent to the first select group (steps 335-355). If the articles 10 in a group are moved sequentially, the tagged articles 10 visually mark the end of the first select group and the beginning of the second select group. The sorting may continue until the first and/or last article 10 in each distinct group is tagged and each distinct group has been moved from the conveyor 50 onto the rail 99. Alternatively, as shown in the flow chart in FIG. 11, the computer system 80 may reference the database 82 and activate the automated tag injector 100 to tag either the first or last article 10 belonging to each distinct group of articles 10 before any of the unsorted articles 10 on the conveyor are removed and sorted into different groups onto a rail 99 (steps 335-375).
FIG. 12 illustrates a sorting system performing the procedures in both FIG. 10 and FIG. 11. A [0057] computer system 80, referencing a database 82, controls a scanner 83, counting device 84, and the automated tag injector 100. The scanner 83, counting device 84, and automated tag injector 100 are mounted adjacent to a loop conveyor 51 at a pre-designated location 87. Articles 10 loaded onto the loop conveyor 51 have information scanned into the computer system 80 and the database 82 by the scanner 83. The counting device 84 assists the computer system 80 to determine when to activate the automated tag injector 100 to tag a selected article 10. The unsorted articles 10 on the loop conveyor 51, once tagging is complete, are sorted and moved from the loop conveyor 51 and dropped off at a rail 99 for distribution. As shown in FIG. 12, the tagged articles 105 visually separate each distinct group from the other adjacent groups after all the articles 10 have been sorted into the different groups,for example G1, G2 and G3, and the groups are placed next to one another.
In another embodiment shown in FIGS. [0058] 14-15, a series of automated tag injectors 100 may be used together to tag unsorted articles 10 on a conveyor with different colored tags 20 for each group of articles 10, before sorting all the articles 10 into the separate groups. Different colored tags 20 may be used, for example, on the necks of each hooked member 12 to indicate a size of the garment 13 suspended therefrom. For this application, the tags 12 may have a circular shape and each set may also have the size of the garment preprinted on them.
In the preceding specification, the present invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims that follow. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense. [0059]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An automated tagging apparatus comprising:

a linear slide configured to receive a plurality of tags;

a motor coupled with the linear slide to drive a movement of the linear slide; and

a separating mechanism coupled to the linear slide, the movement of the linear slide activating the separating mechanism to separate one tag from the plurality of tags.

2. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the linear slide moves towards an object adjacent to the slide, and the linear slide applies the separated tag to the object.

3. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 2, wherein the motor includes a crankshaft coupled to the linear slide via a connecting rod, a revolution of the crankshaft moving the connecting rod and driving the linear slide at least one of towards and away from the object.

3. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 2, wherein the motor includes a clutch connected to the crankshaft to drive the revolution of the crankshaft.

4. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 3, wherein the clutch is a single-revolution clutch.

5. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 3, wherein the clutch is selectively connected to a clutch power supply via a selectively closing clutch relay, the clutch driving the revolution of the crankshaft by closing the clutch relay, connecting the clutch to the clutch power supply and energizing the clutch with the power from the clutch power supply.

6. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a computer system connected to the clutch relay, the computer system being configured to control activation the automated tagging apparatus by controlling the closing of the clutch relay.

7. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 6, wherein the computer system is configured to control the closing of the clutch relay by having a capability of transmitting a trigger signal to close the clutch relay.

8. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a computer system connected to the motor and configured to control the actuation of the motor.

9. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 2, wherein the plurality of tags is a roll of connected tags, an end of the roll of connected tags being threaded through the linear slide.

10. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 9, wherein a side edge of the roll has notches.

11. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a slide pawl connected to the linear slide, the slide pawl engaging a notch on the roll and coupling the end of the roll with the linear slide to advance the end of the roll towards the object when the linear slide moves towards the object.

12. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the automated tagging apparatus reloads when the linear slide moves away from the object.

13. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a stationary pawl to reload the automated tagging apparatus, the stationary pawl engaging a notch on the roll to maintain a position of the end of the roll relative to the object when the linear slide moves away from the object.

14. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 9, wherein the separating mechanism is a cutting mechanism separating a foremost tag at the end of the roll from a remainder of the roll.

15. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 14, wherein the cutting mechanism includes a cutting edge.

16. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 14, wherein the cutting mechanism includes at least one cutting pin, the at least one cutting pin separating the foremost tag by being pushed against at least one tab where the foremost tag is attached to the remainder of the roll, and breaking the at least one tab.

17. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one cutting pin engages an edge of the at least one broken tab to retain the foremost tag in the linear slide until the linear slide applies the foremost tag to the object.

18. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 16, wherein the cutting mechanism includes a cutting cam configured to push the at least one cutting pin against the at least one tab, the cutting cam being connected to the linear slide, the at least one cutting pin being mounted to the cutting cam.

19. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 18, wherein the cutting mechanism includes a cam roller configured to interact with the cutting cam, the cutting cam engaging the cam roller at an end of the movement of linear slide and the cutting cam towards the object, the engaged cam roller squeezing the cutting cam towards the at least one tab, the squeezed cutting cam pushing the at least one cutting pin against the at least one tab.

20. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 19, wherein the squeezed cutting cam engages the at least one cutting pin with an edge on the broken at least one tab to retain the foremost tag in the linear slide until the linear slide applies the foremost tag to the object.

21. The automated tagging apparatus of claim 2, wherein the tag has a narrow opening at one end connecting with an inner aperture, the tag encircling a part of the object and becoming secured to the object when applied to the object.

22. An apparatus for identifying a location on a conveyor, the conveyor including a plurality of slots configured to transport articles suspended therefrom along a conveyor path, each of the plurality of slots having a window, the apparatus comprising;

a computer system;

a photo sensor connected to the computer system and mounted adjacent to a position on the conveyer path; and

a reflector mounted adjacent to the position, the reflector and photo sensor mounted to face opposite sides of a portion of the conveyor at the position;

wherein a beam of light transmitted by the photo sensor is reflected back to the photo sensor when a slot on the conveyor moves past the position and the window in the slot exposes the photo sensor to the reflector;

wherein the photo sensor transmits a signal to the computer system for each reflected beam of light sensed by the photo sensor, and

wherein the computer system identifies the location of a select slot with respect to a remainder of the plurality of slots as a function of the number of signals received from the photo sensor.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the computer system determines a speed of conveyor by measuring a passage of time between each transmitted signal.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the conveyor includes a reference slot having a reference window larger than the windows in the plurality of slots to reset a counter in the computer system, a movement of the reference slot and window past the position resulting in the photo sensor sensing a longer duration of a reflected beam of light and transmitting a signal to the computer system for a longer duration than for the passage of the plurality of slots.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising a hanger photo sensor mounted adjacent to the position, the hanger photo sensor being configured to determine a presence of a hooked member in a slot at the position and transmit a hanger signal to the computer system when it determines a presence for a hooked member in the slot at the position by sensing a reflected beam of light.

26. An apparatus for selectively tagging articles while the articles are being transported by a conveyer along a conveyor path, the apparatus comprising:

a roll of connected tags; and

an automated tag injector mounted adjacent to the conveyor path, the automated tag injector retaining an end of the roll and being configured to separate a foremost tag at the end of the roll and tag a selected article on the conveyor with the separated tag.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the articles are hooked members, each hooked member having a hooked portion with a free end, a neck and a body for supporting a garment thereon.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the automated tag injector includes a linear slide moveably mounted therein, the end of the roll being threaded through the linear slide, and the linear slide tagging a selected hooked member by moving towards the selected hooked member and the conveyor and applying the separated tag to the neck of the selected hooked member.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein each tag has a narrow opening at one end connecting with an inner aperture, the separated tag encircling the neck of the selected hooked member and becoming secured to the selected hooked member when applied thereto.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the automated tag injector includes a cutting mechanism coupled with the linear slide to separate the foremost tag, the cutting mechanism activated by the movement of the linear slide towards the selected hooked member and the conveyor.

31. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the automated tag injector included a motor coupled with the linear slide, wherein actuation of the motor drives the movement of the linear slide.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising a computer system connected to the motor and configured to control the automated tag injector by controlling actuation of the motor.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the computer system is configured to determine when to activate the automated tag injector to tag the selected hooked member as a function of a speed of the automated tag injector, a presence and a location of the selected hooked member, and a speed of the conveyor.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising a photo sensor and reflector connected to the computer system and mounted on opposite sides of the conveyor adjacent to the position along the conveyor path to detect the location of the selected hooked member and the speed of the conveyor for the computer system.

35. A method of selecting tagging hooked members on a conveyor, the method comprising the step of:

selecting a hooked member to be tagged; and

tagging the selected hooked member while the selected hooked member is moving with the conveyor along a conveyor path.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the step of selecting a hooked member includes the step of using a computer system to select the hooked member to be tagged.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the step of using a computer system to select the hooked member includes the step of referencing a database, the database correlating identification information of each respective article with a location of the respective article on the conveyor.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising the step of receiving identification and location information for each article as the article is loaded at a location on the conveyor.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of storing the identification information and location information in the database.

40. The method of claim 35, wherein the step of tagging the selected hooked member includes the step of activating an automated tag injector to tag the selected hooked member.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the step of activating the automated tag injector includes the step of determining when to activate the automated tag injector.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the step of determining when to activate the automated tag injector includes the step of locating a position of the selected hooked member.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the step of locating the position includes the step of identifying a location of a selected slot from which the selected hooked member is suspended.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the step of identifying a location of the selected slot includes the step of using a photo sensor to count a number of slots which pass the photo sensor after a reference slot passes the photo sensor to signify a start of a loop around the conveyor.

45. The method of claim 41, wherein the step of determining when to activate the automated tag injector includes the step of measuring a speed of the conveyor.

46. The method of claim 41, wherein the step of determining when to activate the automated tag injector includes the step of measuring a speed of the automated tag injector.

47. The method of claim 41, wherein the step of determining when to activate the automated tag injector includes the step of using a computer system to determine when to activate the automated tag injector.

48. The method of claim 35, wherein the step of tagging the selected hooked member includes the step of advancing an end of a roll of connected tags towards the conveyor.

49. The method of claim 48, further comprising the step of threading the end of the roll through a linear slide in an automated tag injector.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the step of advancing the end of the roll includes the step of moving the linear slide towards the conveyor to move the end of the roll towards the conveyor.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the step of moving the linear slide includes the step of actuating a motor coupled to the linear slide to drive the movement of the linear slide.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the step of actuating the motor includes the step of receiving a trigger signal from a computer system to actuate the motor.

53. The method of claim 35, wherein the step of tagging the selected hooked member includes the step of separating a foremost tag at an end of a roll of connected tags.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the step of tagging the selected hooked member includes the step of applying the foremost tag to the selected hooked member.

55. The method of claim 53, wherein the step of tagging the selected hooked member includes the step of applying the separated foremost tag to the selected hooked member.

56. The method of claim 53, wherein the step of separating the foremost tag includes the step of activating a cutting mechanism to separate the foremost tag.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the step of activating the cutting mechanism includes the step of moving the end of the roll towards the conveyor to activate the cutting mechanism.

58. The method of claim 55, wherein the step of applying the separated foremost tag includes the step of moving the separated foremost tag towards the selected hooked member.

59. A method for visually separating at least one group of articles in a plurality of groups of articles from a remainder of the plurality of groups of articles adjacent to the at least one group, the method comprising the steps of:

tagging at least one of a first article and a last article belonging to the at least one group amongst a plurality of unsorted articles being transported by a conveyor along a conveyor path, each unsorted article belonging to a group; and

after the tagging step, sorting the plurality of unsorted articles into the plurality of groups.

60. The method of claim 59, further comprising the step of determining a location for each of the at least one of the first article and the last article on the conveyor.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the step of determining the location includes the step of using a computer system to determine the location for each of the at least one of the first article and the last article.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein the step of tagging the at least one of the first article and the last article includes the step of using the computer system to activate an automated tag injector to tag the at least one of the first article and the last article.

63. The method of claim 61, wherein the step of using the computer system to determine the location includes the step of referencing a database correlating group identification information for each article with a position of the article on the conveyor.

64. The method of claim 63, further comprising the step of receiving the group identification information and position information for each article as the article is loaded at a respective position on the conveyor.

65. The method of claim 64, further comprising the step of storing the group identification information and the position information for each article in the database.

66. The method of claim 63, wherein the step of sorting the plurality of unsorted articles includes the step of referencing the database to determine the position of each article on the conveyor belonging to the at least one group.

67. The method of claim 59, wherein the step of sorting the plurality of unsorted articles includes the step of moving the articles belong to the at least one group from the conveyor to a rail.