Controlled spacing induction

A method of inducting single-file product in order to provide desired spacing between product comprising:

• conveying product trough a control zone at a controlled speed, said control zone having an entry portion and a discharge portion;
• sensing leading and trailing edges of packages in said control zone;
• monitoring linear movement of packages through said control zone;
• tracking the centerline of a package in said control zone as a function of the leading and railing edges of that package and the linear movement of that package in said control zone;
• determining the amount of adjustment of the controlled speed in order to provide a desired gap between a pair of product in said control zone;
• and
• adjusting said controlled speed only when the centerline of the first and said pair of product reaches said discharge portion.

A method of inducting single-file product in order to provide desired spacing between product comprising:

• conveying product through a control zone at a controlled speed, said control zone having an entry portion and a discharge portion;
• sensing leading and trailing edges of product in said control zone;
• monitoring linear movement of product through said control zone;
• determining the estimated time of arrival of a product at said discharge portion as a function of the leading and trailing edges of that product and linear movement of that product in said control zone;
• determining a desired time of arrival of a product at said discharge portion as a function of the time that a previous product was at said discharge portion in order to adjust the estimated time of arrival of that product toward the desired time of arrival of that product;
• limiting said speed adjustment as a function of the distance of that product from said discharge portion so that the controlled speed can be returned to a predetermined speed before that package reaches said discharge portion;
• and
• adjusting said controlled speed by the limited speed adjustment.

An induct control conveyor adapted to providing controlled spacing between single-file product comprising:

• a metering conveyor that is of a size to include more than one product at a time;
• a speed control for said metering conveyor;
• a product monitor for monitoring movement of product on aid metering conveyor;
• a computer that is responsive to said product monitor and is programmed to determine an estimated time of arrival o a product at a discharge portion of said metering conveyor if that product is conveyed at a present speed and a desired time of arrival at said discharge portion of the product closest to said discharge portion in order for that product closest to said discharge portion to be optimally spaced from a downstream product;
• said computer further being programmed to control said speed control in order to cause the estimated time of arrival of that product closest to said discharge portion to approach the desired time of arrival of that product;
• and
• said computer further being programmed to adjust the estimated time of arrival of other product on said metering conveyor as a function of speed changes that have occurred while that other product is on said metering conveyor.

An induct control conveyor adapted to providing controlled spacing between single-file product comprising:

• a metering conveyor that is of a size to include more than one product at a time;
• a speed control for said metering conveyor;
• a product monitor for monitoring movement of product on said metering conveyor;
• a computer that is responsive to said product monitor and is programmed to determine an amount of adjustment of said speed control in order to provide a desired gap between a pair of product discharged from said metering conveyor and to adjust the speed of said speed control only when the centerline of the first of said pair of product is discharged from said metering conveyor.

An induct control conveyor adapted to providing controlled spacing between single-file product comprising

• a metering conveyor that is of a size to include more than one product at a time and having a product entry portion and a product discharge portion;
• a speed control for said metering conveyor;
• a product monitor for monitoring movement of product on said metering conveyor;
• a computer that is responsive to said product monitor and is programed to determine the estimated time of arrival of a product at said discharge portion as a function of the leading and trailing edges of that product and linear movement of that product in said control zone and to determine a desired time of arrival of a product at said discharge portion as a function of the time that a previous product was at said discharge portion;
• said computer being programmed to determine an amount of speed adjustment that will cause the estimated time of arrival of that product to approach the desired time of arrival of that product and to limit said speed adjustment as a function of the distance of that product from said discharge portion so that said speed control can return said metering conveyor to a predetermined speed before that package reaches said discharge portion;
• and
• said speed control being responsive to said computer to control the speed of said metering conveyor to the limited speed adjustment.