US 2013/0259631 A1 · APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FEEDING AND CONVEYING ITEMS

Abstract

One embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a stacking device including a conveyor belt configured to move one or more items towards a receiving storage hopper configured to receive the one or more items from the conveyor belt. The one or more items may form a stack of items in the receiving storage hopper. The stacking device may further include a sensing device configured to determine a level of the stack of items in the receiving storage hopper. The stacking device may be configured to adjust a height of the conveyor belt relative to the storage hopper based on the level of the stack of items in the receiving storage hopper.

Claims19

Dependent claims

Apparatus including

a conveyor configured to move one or more items toward a receiving hopper, the receiving hopper configured to receive the items into a stack thereof;
a sensor configured to determine a level of the stack;
a controller coupled to the conveyor and configured to maintain a drop distance between the conveyor and the level of the stack within a desirable range.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

13/795,821Filed 12 Mar 2013

Priority

2 Apr 2012

Published

3 Oct 2013

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification13 codes

B65H 83/02
Combinations of piling and depiling operations, e.g. performed simultaneously, of interest apart from the single operation of piling or depiling…:…
B65H 29/50
Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles: piling apparatus of which the discharge point moves in…
B65H 31/3009
Arrangements for removing completed piles: by dropping, e.g. removing the pile support from under the pile
B65H 2301/42134
Of a limited number of articles, e.g. buffering, forming bundles: feeder loader, i.e. picking up articles from a main stack for maintaining…

Apparatus and method for feeding and conveying items

Life of this patent

Apparatus and method for feeding and conveying items

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims19