US 2004/0176874 A1 · Method and apparatus for weight controlled portioning of articles having non-uniform weight

Abstract

Batching of currently supplied articles with non-uniform weights into portions of a uniform target weight is effected by passing the articles through a weighing station (6, 8) to a distribution system (12), in which the articles (4) are selectively allocated to a plurality of receiver bins (14). Probability calculations based on a regularly updated record of the weight distribution of a relatively high number of newly weighed articles and the probability of each new incoming article complete a portion of target weight are used to determine which of a plurality of bins the article should be diverted into from a stream of incoming articles. The process can be used for production of mixed jobs on multiple lines, e.g., portions with one type of parts being formed from the stream articles in one line of batching bins and portions of a different type of parts, or portions with differing numbers of parts, or of different weights being formed from the stream articles in a parallel line of batching bins.

Claims41

Dependent claims

A method of accumulating articles into plural batches, wherein each completed batch comprises a plurality of articles which have been selected from a stream of articles in accordance with at least one predetermined selection criterion, said method comprising the steps of:

identifying at least one article characteristic for each article in said stream of articles, said at least one article characteristic comprising at least one of article type and article weight;
using an automated system to keep track of the articles in said stream of articles according to said at least one article characteristic and to control allocation of the articles for making up the batches in accordance with said at least one predetermined selection criterion, said batches comprising at least two different types of batches, each of which is allocated in accordance with at least one selection criteria which differs from that of another of said different types of batches;
and
using a sorting arrangement linked to said automated system to select articles from said stream of articles and to accumulate said articles in a series of said different types of batches, the articles being selected for accumulation in a given batch in accordance the allocation established by said automated system;
and
delivering said different types batches of articles after accumulation thereof has been completed.

3 more elements

A method of accumulating articles having different weights into plural batches wherein each completed batch comprises a plurality of articles and has a sum weight within a predetermined weight range, said method comprising the steps of:

establishing a historical frequency distribution of article weights;
and
using a computer to keep track of the articles according to the weight of each article and to control allocation of the articles to make up the batches in accordance with said historical frequency distribution of article weights.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and apparatus for weight controlled portioning of articles having non-uniform weight

Life of this patent

Method and apparatus for weight controlled portioning of articles having non-uniform weight

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims41