WO2020004917A1 - System and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on conveyor belt - Google Patents

System and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on conveyor belt Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2020004917A1
WO2020004917A1 PCT/KR2019/007687 KR2019007687W WO2020004917A1 WO 2020004917 A1 WO2020004917 A1 WO 2020004917A1 KR 2019007687 W KR2019007687 W KR 2019007687W WO 2020004917 A1 WO2020004917 A1 WO 2020004917A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
conveyor belt
goods
delivery goods
delivery
spacing
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/KR2019/007687
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Kyoung Hwan Lee
Kyu Bok Lee
Yong An Lee
Eun Sung Choi
Original Assignee
Cj Logistics Corporation
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Cj Logistics Corporation filed Critical Cj Logistics Corporation
Priority to MYPI2020006709A priority Critical patent/MY186989A/en
Publication of WO2020004917A1 publication Critical patent/WO2020004917A1/en

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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B07—SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS; SORTING
    • B07C—POSTAL SORTING; SORTING INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES, OR BULK MATERIAL FIT TO BE SORTED PIECE-MEAL, e.g. BY PICKING
    • B07C1/00—Measures preceding sorting according to destination
    • B07C1/02—Forming articles into a stream; Arranging articles in a stream, e.g. spacing, orientating
    • B07C1/04—Forming a stream from a bulk; Controlling the stream, e.g. spacing the articles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B07—SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS; SORTING
    • B07C—POSTAL SORTING; SORTING INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES, OR BULK MATERIAL FIT TO BE SORTED PIECE-MEAL, e.g. BY PICKING
    • B07C5/00—Sorting according to a characteristic or feature of the articles or material being sorted, e.g. by control effected by devices which detect or measure such characteristic or feature; Sorting by manually actuated devices, e.g. switches
    • B07C5/02—Measures preceding sorting, e.g. arranging articles in a stream orientating
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G43/00—Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting
    • B65G43/08—Control devices operated by article or material being fed, conveyed or discharged
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
    • B65G47/22—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors
    • B65G47/26—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles
    • B65G47/30—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles during transit by a series of conveyors
    • B65G47/31—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles during transit by a series of conveyors by varying the relative speeds of the conveyors forming the series
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2201/00—Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
    • B65G2201/02—Articles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2201/00—Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
    • B65G2201/02—Articles
    • B65G2201/0235—Containers
    • B65G2201/025—Boxes
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2203/00—Indexing code relating to control or detection of the articles or the load carriers during conveying
    • B65G2203/02—Control or detection
    • B65G2203/0208—Control or detection relating to the transported articles
    • B65G2203/0233—Position of the article
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2203/00—Indexing code relating to control or detection of the articles or the load carriers during conveying
    • B65G2203/04—Detection means
    • B65G2203/042—Sensors
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2811/00—Indexing codes relating to common features for more than one conveyor kind or type
    • B65G2811/06—Devices controlling the relative position of articles
    • B65G2811/0631—Devices controlling the relative position of articles by varying the spacing between individual articles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G2811/00—Indexing codes relating to common features for more than one conveyor kind or type
    • B65G2811/06—Devices controlling the relative position of articles
    • B65G2811/0673—Control of conveying operations

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on conveyor belts, and more particularly, to a system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on conveyor belts that is configured to have a goods transport line constituted of a plurality of conveyor belts, so that even if driving of a front conveyor belt is stopped, a rear conveyor belt is driven, until the delivery goods are detected through a goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt, to allow the spacing between the delivery goods to be decreased.
  • delivery goods are first collected to a hub terminal and sub terminals and then sorted by delivery destination at the terminals. After that, the sorted delivery goods are transferred to delivery receivers.
  • delivery services become gradually enormous in size year after year, and the greatest important thing in the delivery services is to improve the accuracy and efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
  • the delivery goods picked up from delivery senders are unloaded to a conveyor belt, and the unloaded delivery goods are moved along the conveyor belt and then transported to a sorter through an induction line.
  • the delivery goods transported to the sorter are sorted to chutes located by delivery destination, and the sorted delivery goods are finally transferred to the delivery receivers, so that the sorting and delivering processes are finished.
  • the spacing between the delivery goods transported on a front side conveyor belt is so large that other delivery goods are located therein, but the spacing between the delivery goods transported on a rear side conveyor belt is so small that a space to which the delivery goods are unloaded from the delivery truck is not sufficient, thereby undesirably causing a low efficiency in sorting the delivery goods at the delivery terminals.
  • the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods that is configured to have a goods transport line, which transports delivery goods unloaded to an induction line, constituted of a plurality of conveyor belts, not of one conveyor belt, so that even if driving of a front conveyor belt is stopped, a rear conveyor belt is driven to minimize the spacing between the delivery goods, thereby improving the capacity of delivery goods transportable and the efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
  • a system for controlling spacing between delivery goods located on a goods transport line for transporting the delivery goods unloaded to an induction line wherein the goods transport line includes: a plurality of conveyor belts; a controller for controlling driving of the plurality of conveyor belts; and goods detection sensors disposed on the plurality of conveyor belts to check whether the delivery goods reach front ends of the plurality of conveyor belts.
  • the controller controls driving of the conveyor belts on the basis of whether the delivery goods on the front ends of the plurality of conveyor belts are sensed through the goods detection sensors.
  • the controller stops driving of the rear conveyor belt of the plurality of conveyor belts if the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor of the rear conveyor belt and drives the rear conveyor belt until the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor of the rear conveyor belt if the delivery goods are not sensed through the goods detection sensor of the rear conveyor belt.
  • the controller calculates the spacing between the delivery goods on the plurality of conveyor belts on the basis of the driving speeds of the plurality of conveyor belts and the goods sensing time of the goods detection sensors.
  • the controller accelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt.
  • the controller decelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt.
  • a method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on a goods transport line by means of the system including the steps of: (a) checking whether the front conveyor belt is driven; (b) calculating spacing between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt; and (c) controlling the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt on the basis of the checking result at the step (a) or the spacing calculated at the step (b).
  • the spacing between the delivery goods located on the conveyor belts is calculated on the basis of the driving speeds of the front and rear conveyor belts and the goods sensing time of the goods detection sensors.
  • the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt is accelerated, and if the spacing calculated at the step (b) between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt is less than a second set value, the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt is decelerated.
  • the driving of the rear conveyor belt is stopped if the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt, and if the delivery goods are not sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt, the rear conveyor belt is driven until the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt.
  • the method further includes the step of (d) driving the rear conveyor belt if the front conveyor belt starts to be driven in a state where the driving of the front conveyor belt and the rear conveyor belt has been stopped.
  • the method further includes the step of (e) checking the spacing between the delivery goods on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt again, after the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt has been controlled at the step (c), to control the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt.
  • the system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods is configured to have the goods transport line constituted of the plurality of divided conveyor belts, not of one conveyor belt, so that even if driving of the front conveyor belt is stopped, the rear conveyor belt is driven to minimize the spacing between the delivery goods located on the goods transport line.
  • the system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods is capable of minimizing the spacing between the delivery goods even if the delivery goods are overloaded on the sorter to cause driving of the induction line to be stopped or even if driving of the induction line is stopped to unload the delivery goods to the conveyor belts, thereby improving the efficiency in sorting the delivery goods at the time when the induction line is driven again.
  • the system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods is capable of controlling the driving speeds of the conveyor belts according to the spacing between the delivery goods on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt even if the conveyor belts are continuously driven, thereby transporting a maximum capacity of delivery goods through the conveyor belts to improve the efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
  • FIG.1 is a top view showing a situation where driving of an induction line and a goods transport line is stopped by means of overloading of delivery goods on a sorter in a conventional practice.
  • FIG.2 is a perspective view showing a conventional goods transport line, which has a form of a single conveyor belt.
  • FIG.3 is a perspective view showing a system for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention, wherein a goods transport line is constituted of a plurality of divided conveyor belts.
  • FIG.4A is a perspective view showing a process of continuously driving a rear conveyor belt as delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt are not sensed by means of a goods detection sensor, if driving of a front conveyor belt is stopped.
  • FIG.4B is a perspective view showing a process of stopping the rear conveyor belt as the delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt are sensed by means of the goods detection sensor, if driving of the front conveyor belt is stopped.
  • FIG.5 is a flowchart showing a method for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention.
  • one element When it is said that one element is described as being “connected” or “coupled” to the other element, one element may be directly connected or coupled to the other element, but it should be understood that another element may be present between the two elements.
  • one member when it is said that one member is located “above” or “under” another member, it means that one member may come into contact with another member as well as yet another member may exist between the two members.
  • system used in the present invention is one system including a plurality of components.
  • FIGS.1 and 2 Before the present invention is in detail disclosed and described, a conventional sorting system for sorting delivery goods will be briefly explained with reference to FIGS.1 and 2.
  • FIG.1 is a top view showing a situation where driving of an induction line and a goods transport line is stopped by means of overloading of delivery goods on a sorter in a conventional practice
  • FIG.2 is a perspective view showing a conventional goods transport line, which has a form of a single conveyor belt.
  • Delivery goods are transferred to delivery receivers from delivery senders through picking up, transporting, sorting, and delivering processes, and as the capacity of delivery goods is drastically increased, the greatest important thing in delivery services is to achieve high efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
  • the delivery goods (goods picked up) unloaded to a hub terminal and sub terminals are transported to an induction line 11 along a conveyor belt 110, and they are transported to a sorter 10 along the induction line 11 so that they are sorted by destination.
  • the induction line 11 has to be stopped.
  • driving of the induction line 11 is stopped, driving of the conveyor belt 110 for transporting the delivery goods to the induction line 11 is also stopped, and in conventional practices, as shown in FIG.2, the delivery goods are transported to the induction line 11 by means of one long conveyor belt 110, so that spacing between the delivery goods on the conveyor belt 110 becomes increased according to the situation where driving of the conveyor belt 110 is stopped. As a result, when driving of the induction line 11 starts again, the sorting efficiency for the delivery goods may be lowered.
  • the present invention relates to a system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on conveyor belts that is configured to control driving of the conveyor belts if driving of the induction line 11 is stopped or if spacing between the delivery goods on the conveyor belts becomes too increased, to allow the spacing between the delivery goods on the conveyor belts to be decreased, thereby optimizing the productivity in the sorting process for the delivery goods and solving the conventional problems occurring in the sorting process.
  • FIG.3 is a perspective view showing a system for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention, wherein a goods transport line is constituted of a plurality of divided conveyor belts
  • FIG.4A is a perspective view showing a process of continuously driving a rear conveyor belt as delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt are not sensed by means of a goods detection sensor, if driving of a front conveyor belt is stopped
  • FIG.4B is a perspective view showing a process of stopping the rear conveyor belt as the delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt are sensed by means of the goods detection sensor, if driving of the front conveyor belt is stopped.
  • a system for controlling spacing between delivery goods includes a goods transport line 100 for transporting the delivery goods unloaded from a delivery truck to an induction line, the goods transport line 100 including: a plurality of conveyor belts 110; a controller (not shown) for controlling driving of the plurality of conveyor belts 110; and goods detection sensors 200 disposed on the plurality of conveyor belts 110 to check whether the delivery goods reach front ends of the plurality of conveyor belts 110.
  • the goods transport line 100 for transporting the delivery goods unloaded to the induction line 11 includes the plurality of divided conveyor belts 110, not one long conveyor belt 110 in the conventional practice.
  • the goods transport line 100 includes the plurality of divided conveyor belts 110, and as driving speeds of the respective conveyor belts 110 are varied, the spacing between the delivery goods transported along the conveyor belts 110 can be controlled.
  • the rest of conveyor belts 110 are kept driven, and even if driving of the induction line is stopped (that is, if overload occurs on a sorter, or if a delivery truck approaches the conveyor belt to unload delivery goods), the spacing between the delivery goods on the goods transport line 100 can be controlled.
  • a driving direction that is, a direction toward which the delivery goods are transported, of each conveyor belt 110 is called a front end of the conveyor belt 110, and contrarily, a direction in which the delivery goods are transported to the conveyor belt 110 is called a rear end of the conveyor belt 110.
  • the plurality of conveyor belts 110 constituting the goods transport line 100 are disposed in series, and if it is assumed that the conveyor belt 110 disposed in front of the goods transport line 100 adjacent to the induction line is a first conveyor belt and the conveyor belt 110 disposed behind the first conveyor belt is a second conveyor belt, the first conveyor belt is called a front conveyor belt, and the second conveyor belt a rear conveyor belt.
  • the n-1th (n is a natural number) conveyor belt and nth conveyor belt further, the n-1th conveyor belt is called a front conveyor belt and the nth conveyor belt a rear conveyor belt.
  • the front conveyor belt and the rear conveyor belt are determined relatively from two conveyor belts. If the nth conveyor belt is compared with the n-th conveyor belt, it is the rear conveyor belt, but if it is compared with n+1th conveyor belt, it is the front conveyor belt.
  • the system for controlling spacing between delivery goods includes the goods detection sensors 200 disposed on the front ends of the respective conveyor belts 110 constituting the goods transport line 100 so as to decrease the spacing between the delivery goods on the goods transport line 100.
  • the goods detection sensors 200 When the delivery goods are placed on tops of the goods detection sensors 200, the goods detection sensors 200 are covered with the delivery goods, and accordingly, the goods detection sensors 200 check whether the delivery goods are located on tops thereof.
  • the goods detection sensors 200 are light sensors for radiating light like infrared rays to check whether the delivery goods exist or not with the time consumed to reflect the light, but while they are being not limited thereto, the goods detection sensors 200 may become ultrasonic sensors using ultrasound waves.
  • the controller serves to control driving of the respective conveyor belts 110 according to the sensing results of the goods detection sensors 200 located on the front ends of the conveyor belts 110.
  • the controller continuously drives the rear conveyor belt, irrespective of the front conveyor belt stopped, so that spacing between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt can be decreased.
  • the rear conveyor belt is driven until the delivery goods are detected through the goods detection sensor 200 located on the front end of the rear conveyor belt, thereby minimizing the spacing between the delivery goods.
  • the goods transport line 100 includes one conveyor belt in the conventional practice, large spacing between the delivery goods may be made, as shown in FIG.2, and for example, seven delivery goods are placed on the goods transport line 100 when the induction line is stopped.
  • the conveyor belt 110 is driven until the delivery goods are detected through the goods detection sensor 200, so that the spacing between the delivery goods can be minimized. According to the present invention, therefore, nine or ten delivery goods may be placed on the goods transport line 100 even if the induction line is stopped, so that when the induction line is stopped, the number of delivery goods unloaded at a time can be increased to enhance the efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
  • the controller calculates the spacing between the delivery goods placed on the conveyor belts 110 on the basis of the goods detection sensors 200 and the driving speeds of the conveyor belts 110 and controls the spacing between the delivery goods on the basis of the calculated result, irrespective of whether the induction line is driven or not, that is, even in the case where both of the front conveyor belt 110 and the rear conveyor belt 110 are driven.
  • the controller calculates the spacing between the delivery goods placed on the conveyor belts 110 on the basis of the driving speeds of the conveyor belts 110 and the sensing time of the goods detection sensors 200 located on the front ends of the conveyor belts 110.
  • the conveyor belts 110 are dividedly disposed at intervals of 6 m and the driving speeds of the conveyor belts 110 are 1 m/s, for example, if next sensing is generated after 2 seconds after delivery goods have been sensed through the goods detection sensors 200, a distance between the two delivery goods is 2 m.
  • the controller can control the spacing between the delivery goods on the basis of the calculated distance between the delivery goods, and in more detail, if spacing between the delivery goods located on the rearmost end of the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the frontmost end of the rear conveyor belt is greater than a first set value, the controller accelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt to allow the spacing between the two delivery goods to be decreased.
  • the controller decelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt to allow the spacing between the two delivery goods to be increased.
  • the first set value is 5 m
  • the second set value is 2 m.
  • the controller accelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt to allow the spacing between the two delivery goods to be decreased, and contrarily, if spacing between the delivery goods located on the rearmost end of the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the frontmost end of the rear conveyor belt is 1 m, the controller decelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt to allow the spacing between the two delivery goods to be increased.
  • the controller compares the spacing between the delivery goods located on the rearmost end of the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the frontmost end of the rear conveyor belt with the first set value and the second set value and accelerates or decelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt. If the spacing between the delivery goods is increased, it is decreased to increase the capacity of delivery goods transportable at a time, and contrarily, if the spacing between the delivery goods is too decreased, it is increased to prevent the delivery goods from being overloaded on the sorter and the induction line.
  • the first set value and the second set value are arbitrarily set by a user, and accordingly, they may be varied according to the goods sorting environment.
  • the controller continuously checks the spacing between the delivery goods to control the driving speeds of the conveyor belts, so that the spacing between the delivery goods can be continuously controlled to improve the efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
  • FIG.5 is a flowchart showing a method for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention.
  • a method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on a goods transport line by means of the system according to the present invention as mentioned above including the steps of: (a) checking whether the front conveyor belt is driven; (b) calculating spacing between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt; and (c) controlling the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt on the basis of the checking result at the step (a) or the spacing calculated at the step (b).
  • step (a) and the step (b) are not necessarily carried out in sequential order. Accordingly, the step (a) and the step (b) may be carried out simultaneously, and contrarily, the step (b) may be carried out before the step (a).
  • the spacing between the delivery goods located on the conveyor belts can be calculated on the basis of the driving speeds of the front conveyor belt and the rear conveyor belt and the goods sensing time of the goods detection sensors located on the front ends of the conveyor belts.
  • the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt is controlled on the basis of the calculated spacing between the delivery goods, so that the spacing between the delivery goods transported on the conveyor belts can be controlled.
  • the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt is accelerated to allow the spacing between the two delivery goods to be decreased, and contrarily, if the spacing between the delivery goods located on the rearmost end of the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the frontmost end of the rear conveyor belt is less than a second set value, the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt is decelerated to allow the spacing between the two delivery goods to be increased.
  • the first set value and the second set value may be varied according to working environments.
  • step (a) if it is checked at the step (a) that driving of the induction line is stopped to cause driving of the front conveyor belt to be stopped, at the step (c) driving of the rear conveyor belt is stopped if the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt.
  • the rear conveyor belt is driven until the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt, so that even if driving of the front conveyor belt is stopped, the spacing between the delivery goods can be decreased.
  • the method for controlling spacing between delivery goods further includes the step of (d) driving, if the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt at the step (c) to allow the front conveyor belt (that is, the induction line) to start to be driven even in a case where driving of both of the front conveyor belt and the rear conveyor belt is stopped, the rear conveyor belt stopped, so that the delivery goods unloaded can be continuously transported to the induction line.
  • the method for controlling spacing between delivery goods further includes the step of (e) checking the spacing between the delivery goods on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt again, after the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt has been controlled at the step (c), to control the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt.
  • the method for controlling spacing between delivery goods can prevent the spacing between the delivery goods from being too decreased or increased through the feedback of the step (e), thereby improving productivity (efficiency) in sorting the delivery goods.
  • the system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention is configured to allow the spacing between the delivery goods on the goods transport line to be decreased even if the induction line is stopped and to allow the driving speeds of the conveyor belts to be controlled even if the induction line is continuously driven to constantly maintain the spacing between the delivery goods, thereby improving productivity in sorting the delivery goods.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Control Of Conveyors (AREA)
  • Attitude Control For Articles On Conveyors (AREA)

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system for controlling spacing between delivery goods located on a goods transport line for transporting the delivery goods unloaded to an induction line, wherein the goods transport line includes: a plurality of conveyor belts; a controller for controlling driving of the plurality of conveyor belts; and goods detection sensors disposed on the plurality of conveyor belts to check whether the delivery goods reach front ends of the plurality of conveyor belts, whereby the efficiency in sorting the delivery goods can be improved.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SPACING BETWEEN DELIVERY GOODS ON CONVEYOR BELT
The present invention relates to a system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on conveyor belts, and more particularly, to a system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on conveyor belts that is configured to have a goods transport line constituted of a plurality of conveyor belts, so that even if driving of a front conveyor belt is stopped, a rear conveyor belt is driven, until the delivery goods are detected through a goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt, to allow the spacing between the delivery goods to be decreased.
Generally, delivery goods are first collected to a hub terminal and sub terminals and then sorted by delivery destination at the terminals. After that, the sorted delivery goods are transferred to delivery receivers. As the quantity of products sold on online such as electronic commerce like internet shopping, mair-order selling, and so on has been drastically increased, delivery services become gradually enormous in size year after year, and the greatest important thing in the delivery services is to improve the accuracy and efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
Referring to the process of sorting the delivery goods at the terminals, the delivery goods picked up from delivery senders are unloaded to a conveyor belt, and the unloaded delivery goods are moved along the conveyor belt and then transported to a sorter through an induction line.
The delivery goods transported to the sorter are sorted to chutes located by delivery destination, and the sorted delivery goods are finally transferred to the delivery receivers, so that the sorting and delivering processes are finished.
If a delivery truck approaches the conveyor belt to unload the delivery goods to the conveyor belt in the process of sorting the delivery goods, or if the delivery goods are overloaded on the sorter to cause driving of the induction line to be stopped as shown in FIG.1, the conveyor belt transporting the unloaded delivery goods to the induction line has to be stopped.
Moreover, even in a case where the conveyor belt is continuously driven, as shown in FIG.2, the spacing between the delivery goods transported on a front side conveyor belt is so large that other delivery goods are located therein, but the spacing between the delivery goods transported on a rear side conveyor belt is so small that a space to which the delivery goods are unloaded from the delivery truck is not sufficient, thereby undesirably causing a low efficiency in sorting the delivery goods at the delivery terminals.
As the conventional sorting process fails to satisfy the needs of delivery services, therefore, there is a definite need for developing a new system and method capable of controlling spacing between delivery goods to improve the efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods that is configured to have a goods transport line, which transports delivery goods unloaded to an induction line, constituted of a plurality of conveyor belts, not of one conveyor belt, so that even if driving of a front conveyor belt is stopped, a rear conveyor belt is driven to minimize the spacing between the delivery goods, thereby improving the capacity of delivery goods transportable and the efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
The technical problems to be achieved through the present invention are not limited as mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned herein will be obviously understood to one of ordinary skill in the art through the following description.
To accomplish the above-mentioned object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for controlling spacing between delivery goods located on a goods transport line for transporting the delivery goods unloaded to an induction line, wherein the goods transport line includes: a plurality of conveyor belts; a controller for controlling driving of the plurality of conveyor belts; and goods detection sensors disposed on the plurality of conveyor belts to check whether the delivery goods reach front ends of the plurality of conveyor belts.
According to the present invention, desirably, the controller controls driving of the conveyor belts on the basis of whether the delivery goods on the front ends of the plurality of conveyor belts are sensed through the goods detection sensors.
According to the present invention, desirably, if driving of the front conveyor belt of the plurality of conveyor belts is stopped, the controller stops driving of the rear conveyor belt of the plurality of conveyor belts if the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor of the rear conveyor belt and drives the rear conveyor belt until the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor of the rear conveyor belt if the delivery goods are not sensed through the goods detection sensor of the rear conveyor belt.
According to the present invention, desirably, the controller calculates the spacing between the delivery goods on the plurality of conveyor belts on the basis of the driving speeds of the plurality of conveyor belts and the goods sensing time of the goods detection sensors.
According to the present invention, desirably, if spacing between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt is greater than a first set value, the controller accelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt.
According to the present invention, desirably, if spacing between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt is less than a second set value, the controller decelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt.
To accomplish the above-mentioned object, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on a goods transport line by means of the system according to one aspect of the present invention, the method including the steps of: (a) checking whether the front conveyor belt is driven; (b) calculating spacing between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt; and (c) controlling the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt on the basis of the checking result at the step (a) or the spacing calculated at the step (b).
According to the present invention, desirably, at the step (b) the spacing between the delivery goods located on the conveyor belts is calculated on the basis of the driving speeds of the front and rear conveyor belts and the goods sensing time of the goods detection sensors.
According to the present invention, desirably, at the step (c) if the spacing calculated at the step (b) between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt is greater than a first set value, the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt is accelerated, and if the spacing calculated at the step (b) between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt is less than a second set value, the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt is decelerated.
According to the present invention, desirably, if it is checked at the step (a) that driving of the front conveyor belt is stopped, at the step (c) the driving of the rear conveyor belt is stopped if the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt, and if the delivery goods are not sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt, the rear conveyor belt is driven until the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt.
According to the present invention, desirably, the method further includes the step of (d) driving the rear conveyor belt if the front conveyor belt starts to be driven in a state where the driving of the front conveyor belt and the rear conveyor belt has been stopped.
According to the present invention, desirably, the method further includes the step of (e) checking the spacing between the delivery goods on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt again, after the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt has been controlled at the step (c), to control the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt.
According to the present invention, the system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods is configured to have the goods transport line constituted of the plurality of divided conveyor belts, not of one conveyor belt, so that even if driving of the front conveyor belt is stopped, the rear conveyor belt is driven to minimize the spacing between the delivery goods located on the goods transport line.
According to the present invention, further, the system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods is capable of minimizing the spacing between the delivery goods even if the delivery goods are overloaded on the sorter to cause driving of the induction line to be stopped or even if driving of the induction line is stopped to unload the delivery goods to the conveyor belts, thereby improving the efficiency in sorting the delivery goods at the time when the induction line is driven again.
According to the present invention, the system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods is capable of controlling the driving speeds of the conveyor belts according to the spacing between the delivery goods on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt even if the conveyor belts are continuously driven, thereby transporting a maximum capacity of delivery goods through the conveyor belts to improve the efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
FIG.1 is a top view showing a situation where driving of an induction line and a goods transport line is stopped by means of overloading of delivery goods on a sorter in a conventional practice.
FIG.2 is a perspective view showing a conventional goods transport line, which has a form of a single conveyor belt.
FIG.3 is a perspective view showing a system for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention, wherein a goods transport line is constituted of a plurality of divided conveyor belts.
FIG.4A is a perspective view showing a process of continuously driving a rear conveyor belt as delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt are not sensed by means of a goods detection sensor, if driving of a front conveyor belt is stopped.
FIG.4B is a perspective view showing a process of stopping the rear conveyor belt as the delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt are sensed by means of the goods detection sensor, if driving of the front conveyor belt is stopped.
FIG.5 is a flowchart showing a method for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention.
Hereinafter, the present invention is disclosed with reference to the attached drawings wherein the corresponding parts in the embodiments of the present invention are indicated by corresponding reference numerals and the repeated explanation on the corresponding parts will be avoided. If it is determined that the detailed explanation on the well known technology related to the present invention makes the scope of the present invention not clear, the explanation will be avoided for the brevity of the description.
When it is said that one element is described as being "connected" or "coupled" to the other element, one element may be directly connected or coupled to the other element, but it should be understood that another element may be present between the two elements. In the description, when it is said that one member is located "above" or "under" another member, it means that one member may come into contact with another member as well as yet another member may exist between the two members.
In this application, terms, such as "comprise", "include", or `have", are intended to designate those characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, elements, or parts which are described in the specification, or any combination of them that exist, and it should be understood that they do not preclude the possibility of the existence or possible addition of one or more additional characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, elements, or parts, or combinations thereof.　
On the other hand, it should be understood that a term, "system" used in the present invention is one system including a plurality of components.
Before the present invention is in detail disclosed and described, a conventional sorting system for sorting delivery goods will be briefly explained with reference to FIGS.1 and 2.
FIG.1 is a top view showing a situation where driving of an induction line and a goods transport line is stopped by means of overloading of delivery goods on a sorter in a conventional practice, and FIG.2 is a perspective view showing a conventional goods transport line, which has a form of a single conveyor belt.
Delivery goods are transferred to delivery receivers from delivery senders through picking up, transporting, sorting, and delivering processes, and as the capacity of delivery goods is drastically increased, the greatest important thing in delivery services is to achieve high efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
Generally, the delivery goods (goods picked up) unloaded to a hub terminal and sub terminals are transported to an induction line 11 along a conveyor belt 110, and they are transported to a sorter 10 along the induction line 11 so that they are sorted by destination.
However, as shown in FIG.1, if the delivery goods on the sorter 10 are overloaded to make the sorting process not performed anymore, or if a delivery truck approaches the conveyor belt 110 to unload the delivery goods to the conveyor belt 110, which is not shown in the drawing, the induction line 11 has to be stopped.
If driving of the induction line 11 is stopped, driving of the conveyor belt 110 for transporting the delivery goods to the induction line 11 is also stopped, and in conventional practices, as shown in FIG.2, the delivery goods are transported to the induction line 11 by means of one long conveyor belt 110, so that spacing between the delivery goods on the conveyor belt 110 becomes increased according to the situation where driving of the conveyor belt 110 is stopped. As a result, when driving of the induction line 11 starts again, the sorting efficiency for the delivery goods may be lowered.
Moreover, even if the conveyor belt 110 is continuously driven, spacing between the delivery goods located on the front end of the conveyor belt 110 and the rear end of the conveyor belt 110 becomes increased so that a space in which the delivery goods are located is sufficiently formed on the front end of the conveyor belt 110, but the space is insufficient on the rear end of the conveyor belt 110. Accordingly, unloading of the delivery goods is temporarily stopped, thereby lowering the efficiency in the sorting process for the delivery goods.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on conveyor belts that is configured to control driving of the conveyor belts if driving of the induction line 11 is stopped or if spacing between the delivery goods on the conveyor belts becomes too increased, to allow the spacing between the delivery goods on the conveyor belts to be decreased, thereby optimizing the productivity in the sorting process for the delivery goods and solving the conventional problems occurring in the sorting process.
Hereinafter, an explanation on a system for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention will be in detail given with reference to FIGS.3 to 4B.
FIG.3 is a perspective view showing a system for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention, wherein a goods transport line is constituted of a plurality of divided conveyor belts, FIG.4A is a perspective view showing a process of continuously driving a rear conveyor belt as delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt are not sensed by means of a goods detection sensor, if driving of a front conveyor belt is stopped, and FIG.4B is a perspective view showing a process of stopping the rear conveyor belt as the delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt are sensed by means of the goods detection sensor, if driving of the front conveyor belt is stopped.
According to the present invention, a system for controlling spacing between delivery goods includes a goods transport line 100 for transporting the delivery goods unloaded from a delivery truck to an induction line, the goods transport line 100 including: a plurality of conveyor belts 110; a controller (not shown) for controlling driving of the plurality of conveyor belts 110; and goods detection sensors 200 disposed on the plurality of conveyor belts 110 to check whether the delivery goods reach front ends of the plurality of conveyor belts 110.
In the system for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention, the goods transport line 100 for transporting the delivery goods unloaded to the induction line 11 includes the plurality of divided conveyor belts 110, not one long conveyor belt 110 in the conventional practice.
Like this, the goods transport line 100 includes the plurality of divided conveyor belts 110, and as driving speeds of the respective conveyor belts 110 are varied, the spacing between the delivery goods transported along the conveyor belts 110 can be controlled.
Further, even in the case where some of the plurality of conveyor belts 110 are stopped, the rest of conveyor belts 110 are kept driven, and even if driving of the induction line is stopped (that is, if overload occurs on a sorter, or if a delivery truck approaches the conveyor belt to unload delivery goods), the spacing between the delivery goods on the goods transport line 100 can be controlled.
At this time, a driving direction, that is, a direction toward which the delivery goods are transported, of each conveyor belt 110 is called a front end of the conveyor belt 110, and contrarily, a direction in which the delivery goods are transported to the conveyor belt 110 is called a rear end of the conveyor belt 110.
Further, as shown in FIGS.3 to 4B, the plurality of conveyor belts 110 constituting the goods transport line 100 are disposed in series, and if it is assumed that the conveyor belt 110 disposed in front of the goods transport line 100 adjacent to the induction line is a first conveyor belt and the conveyor belt 110 disposed behind the first conveyor belt is a second conveyor belt, the first conveyor belt is called a front conveyor belt, and the second conveyor belt a rear conveyor belt. With respect to n-1th (n is a natural number) conveyor belt and nth conveyor belt, further, the n-1th conveyor belt is called a front conveyor belt and the nth conveyor belt a rear conveyor belt.
In detail, the front conveyor belt and the rear conveyor belt are determined relatively from two conveyor belts. If the nth conveyor belt is compared with the n-th conveyor belt, it is the rear conveyor belt, but if it is compared with n+1th conveyor belt, it is the front conveyor belt.
According to the present invention, the system for controlling spacing between delivery goods includes the goods detection sensors 200 disposed on the front ends of the respective conveyor belts 110 constituting the goods transport line 100 so as to decrease the spacing between the delivery goods on the goods transport line 100.
When the delivery goods are placed on tops of the goods detection sensors 200, the goods detection sensors 200 are covered with the delivery goods, and accordingly, the goods detection sensors 200 check whether the delivery goods are located on tops thereof.
The goods detection sensors 200 are light sensors for radiating light like infrared rays to check whether the delivery goods exist or not with the time consumed to reflect the light, but while they are being not limited thereto, the goods detection sensors 200 may become ultrasonic sensors using ultrasound waves.
If the induction line is stopped due to the overloading of the delivery goods on the sorter or to unload the delivery goods, the controller serves to control driving of the respective conveyor belts 110 according to the sensing results of the goods detection sensors 200 located on the front ends of the conveyor belts 110.
In the state where driving of the induction line is stopped to cause driving of the front conveyor belt to be stopped, in more detail, if the delivery goods are not detected through the goods detection sensor 200 located on the front end of the rear conveyor belt, as shown in FIG.4A, the controller continuously drives the rear conveyor belt, irrespective of the front conveyor belt stopped, so that spacing between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt can be decreased.
Contrarily, if the delivery goods are detected through the goods detection sensor 200 located on the front end of the rear conveyor belt, as shown in FIG.4B, spacing between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt cannot be decreased anymore, so that the controller stops driving of the rear conveyor belt.
According to the present invention, that is, even though driving of the front convey belt is stopped, the rear conveyor belt is driven until the delivery goods are detected through the goods detection sensor 200 located on the front end of the rear conveyor belt, thereby minimizing the spacing between the delivery goods.
If the goods transport line 100 includes one conveyor belt in the conventional practice, large spacing between the delivery goods may be made, as shown in FIG.2, and for example, seven delivery goods are placed on the goods transport line 100 when the induction line is stopped.
According to the present invention, however, even though the induction line is stopped, the conveyor belt 110 is driven until the delivery goods are detected through the goods detection sensor 200, so that the spacing between the delivery goods can be minimized. According to the present invention, therefore, nine or ten delivery goods may be placed on the goods transport line 100 even if the induction line is stopped, so that when the induction line is stopped, the number of delivery goods unloaded at a time can be increased to enhance the efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
Moreover, the controller calculates the spacing between the delivery goods placed on the conveyor belts 110 on the basis of the goods detection sensors 200 and the driving speeds of the conveyor belts 110 and controls the spacing between the delivery goods on the basis of the calculated result, irrespective of whether the induction line is driven or not, that is, even in the case where both of the front conveyor belt 110 and the rear conveyor belt 110 are driven.
In more detail, the controller calculates the spacing between the delivery goods placed on the conveyor belts 110 on the basis of the driving speeds of the conveyor belts 110 and the sensing time of the goods detection sensors 200 located on the front ends of the conveyor belts 110.
In a goods sorting environment wherein the conveyor belts 110 are dividedly disposed at intervals of 6 m and the driving speeds of the conveyor belts 110 are 1 m/s, for example, if next sensing is generated after 2 seconds after delivery goods have been sensed through the goods detection sensors 200, a distance between the two delivery goods is 2 m.
The controller can control the spacing between the delivery goods on the basis of the calculated distance between the delivery goods, and in more detail, if spacing between the delivery goods located on the rearmost end of the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the frontmost end of the rear conveyor belt is greater than a first set value, the controller accelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt to allow the spacing between the two delivery goods to be decreased.
On the other hand, if spacing between the delivery goods located on the rearmost end of the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the frontmost end of the rear conveyor belt is less than a second set value, the controller decelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt to allow the spacing between the two delivery goods to be increased.
For example, the first set value is 5 m, and the second set value is 2 m. At this time, if spacing between the delivery goods located on the rearmost end of the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the frontmost end of the rear conveyor belt is 6 m, the controller accelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt to allow the spacing between the two delivery goods to be decreased, and contrarily, if spacing between the delivery goods located on the rearmost end of the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the frontmost end of the rear conveyor belt is 1 m, the controller decelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt to allow the spacing between the two delivery goods to be increased.
That is, the controller compares the spacing between the delivery goods located on the rearmost end of the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the frontmost end of the rear conveyor belt with the first set value and the second set value and accelerates or decelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt. If the spacing between the delivery goods is increased, it is decreased to increase the capacity of delivery goods transportable at a time, and contrarily, if the spacing between the delivery goods is too decreased, it is increased to prevent the delivery goods from being overloaded on the sorter and the induction line.
At this time, the first set value and the second set value are arbitrarily set by a user, and accordingly, they may be varied according to the goods sorting environment.
Further, the controller continuously checks the spacing between the delivery goods to control the driving speeds of the conveyor belts, so that the spacing between the delivery goods can be continuously controlled to improve the efficiency in sorting the delivery goods.
Next, a method for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.5.
FIG.5 is a flowchart showing a method for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention.
According to the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on a goods transport line by means of the system according to the present invention as mentioned above, the method including the steps of: (a) checking whether the front conveyor belt is driven; (b) calculating spacing between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt; and (c) controlling the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt on the basis of the checking result at the step (a) or the spacing calculated at the step (b).
At this time, a plurality of divided conveyor belts constituting the goods transport line and goods detection sensors located on the front ends of the respective conveyor belts are the same as above, and therefore, a detailed explanation on the respective components will be avoided.
Further, the step (a) and the step (b) are not necessarily carried out in sequential order. Accordingly, the step (a) and the step (b) may be carried out simultaneously, and contrarily, the step (b) may be carried out before the step (a).
At this time, at the step (b) the spacing between the delivery goods located on the conveyor belts can be calculated on the basis of the driving speeds of the front conveyor belt and the rear conveyor belt and the goods sensing time of the goods detection sensors located on the front ends of the conveyor belts.
At the step (c) the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt is controlled on the basis of the calculated spacing between the delivery goods, so that the spacing between the delivery goods transported on the conveyor belts can be controlled.
In detail, at the step (c) if the spacing between the delivery goods located on the rearmost end of the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the frontmost end of the rear conveyor belt is greater than a first set value, the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt is accelerated to allow the spacing between the two delivery goods to be decreased, and contrarily, if the spacing between the delivery goods located on the rearmost end of the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the frontmost end of the rear conveyor belt is less than a second set value, the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt is decelerated to allow the spacing between the two delivery goods to be increased.
At this time, the first set value and the second set value may be varied according to working environments.
Moreover, if it is checked at the step (a) that driving of the induction line is stopped to cause driving of the front conveyor belt to be stopped, at the step (c) driving of the rear conveyor belt is stopped if the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt.
If the delivery goods are not sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt, contrarily, at the step (c) the rear conveyor belt is driven until the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt, so that even if driving of the front conveyor belt is stopped, the spacing between the delivery goods can be decreased.
According to the present invention, the method for controlling spacing between delivery goods further includes the step of (d) driving, if the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt at the step (c) to allow the front conveyor belt (that is, the induction line) to start to be driven even in a case where driving of both of the front conveyor belt and the rear conveyor belt is stopped, the rear conveyor belt stopped, so that the delivery goods unloaded can be continuously transported to the induction line.
According to the present invention, the method for controlling spacing between delivery goods further includes the step of (e) checking the spacing between the delivery goods on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt again, after the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt has been controlled at the step (c), to control the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt. According to the present invention, the method for controlling spacing between delivery goods can prevent the spacing between the delivery goods from being too decreased or increased through the feedback of the step (e), thereby improving productivity (efficiency) in sorting the delivery goods.
As described above, the system and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods according to the present invention is configured to allow the spacing between the delivery goods on the goods transport line to be decreased even if the induction line is stopped and to allow the driving speeds of the conveyor belts to be controlled even if the induction line is continuously driven to constantly maintain the spacing between the delivery goods, thereby improving productivity in sorting the delivery goods.
As mentioned above, the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed in the specification and drawings. In the description of the present invention, special terms are used not to limit the present invention and the scope of the present invention as defined in claims, but just to explain the present invention. Therefore, persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.
Terms used in this application are used to only describe specific exemplary embodiments and are not intended to restrict the present invention. An expression referencing a singular value additionally refers to a corresponding expression of the plural number, unless explicitly limited otherwise by the context.
It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.

Claims (12)

  1. A system for controlling spacing between delivery goods located on a goods transport line for transporting the delivery goods unloaded to an induction line, wherein the goods transport line comprises:
    a plurality of conveyor belts;
    a controller for controlling driving of the plurality of conveyor belts; and
    goods detection sensors disposed on the plurality of conveyor belts to check whether the delivery goods reach front ends of the plurality of conveyor belts.
  2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls driving of the conveyor belts on the basis of whether the delivery goods on the front ends of the plurality of conveyor belts are sensed through the goods detection sensors.
  3. The system according to claim 2, wherein if driving of the front conveyor belt of the plurality of conveyor belts is stopped, the controller stops driving of the rear conveyor belt of the plurality of conveyor belts if the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor of the rear conveyor belt and drives the rear conveyor belt until the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor of the rear conveyor belt if the delivery goods are not sensed through the goods detection sensor of the rear conveyor belt.
  4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the controller calculates the spacing between the delivery goods on the plurality of conveyor belts on the basis of the driving speeds of the plurality of conveyor belts and the goods sensing time of the goods detection sensors.
  5. The system according to claim 4, wherein if spacing between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt is greater than a first set value, the controller accelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt.
  6. The system according to claim 4, wherein if spacing between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt is less than a second set value, the controller decelerates the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt.
  7. A method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on a goods transport line by means of the system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the method comprising the steps of:
    (a) checking whether the front conveyor belt is driven;
    (b) calculating spacing between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt; and
    (c) controlling the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt on the basis of the checking result at the step (a) or the spacing calculated at the step (b).
  8. The method according to claim 7, wherein at the step (b) the spacing between the delivery goods located on the conveyor belts is calculated on the basis of the driving speeds of the front conveyor belt and the rear conveyor belt and the goods sensing time of the goods detection sensors.
  9. The method according to claim 8, wherein at the step (c) if the spacing calculated at the step (b) between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt is greater than a first set value, the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt is accelerated, and if the spacing calculated at the step (b) between the delivery goods located on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods located on the rear conveyor belt is less than a second set value, the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt is decelerated.
  10. The method according to claim 7, wherein if it is checked at the step (a) that driving of the front conveyor belt is stopped, at the step (c) the driving of the rear conveyor belt is stopped if the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt, and if the delivery goods are not sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt, the rear conveyor belt is driven until the delivery goods are sensed through the goods detection sensor located on the rear conveyor belt.
  11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of (d) driving the rear conveyor belt if the front conveyor belt starts to be driven in a state where the driving of the front conveyor belt and the rear conveyor belt has been stopped.
  12. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of (e) checking the spacing between the delivery goods on the front conveyor belt and the delivery goods on the rear conveyor belt again, after the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt has been controlled at the step (c), to control the driving speed of the rear conveyor belt.
PCT/KR2019/007687 2018-06-28 2019-06-26 System and method for controlling spacing between delivery goods on conveyor belt WO2020004917A1 (en)

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CN114715650A (en) * 2022-03-22 2022-07-08 西门子（中国）有限公司 Package separation method, device, system, electronic equipment and computer storage medium
CN116216220A (en) * 2022-12-07 2023-06-06 江苏池丰科技有限公司 Compact conveying device and method
CN116216220B (en) * 2022-12-07 2024-02-13 江苏池丰科技有限公司 Compact conveying device and method
EP4385633A1 (en) * 2022-12-14 2024-06-19 Intelligrated Headquarters LLC Speed control system for peripheral conveyors of sorter systems, corresponding method and computer program product
CN115870224A (en) * 2023-03-08 2023-03-31 广州三拓识别技术有限公司 Appearance detection system for breath card

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